Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Visit India on August 18
During his visit, Wang Yi will participate in the 24th round of the Special Representatives' (SR) Talks on the India-China boundary question, alongside India's Special Representative, NSA Ajit Doval.
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2025-08-16 09:42 GMT
New Delhi: India on Saturday announced that Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi will visit New Delhi on August 18-19 to hold the 24th round of Special Representative (SR) talks on the boundary issue with National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval. Beijing also confirmed the visit, noting that Wang, a Politburo member of the Communist Party of China and China’s Special Representative on the Boundary Question, will hold discussions with Doval ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Tianjin, China, from August 31 for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that during Wang’s visit, he will also hold a bilateral meeting with external affairs minister S. Jaishankar.
China has recently signalled its intent to improve ties with India, especially after the US imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods. Earlier this week, India announced it had engaged with China to resume border trade from three points, Lipu Lekh Pass (Uttarakhand), Shipki La Pass (Himachal Pradesh), and Nathu La Pass (Sikkim). MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed the move.
Both nations are also considering resuming direct flights soon, while China has already restarted the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage for Indian nationals. India, in turn, has resumed granting tourist visas to Chinese citizens.
NSA Doval last met Wang in Beijing on June 23 during the SCO Security Council Secretaries’ meeting, where he conveyed his intent to host the SR talks in India. EAM Jaishankar also visited China last month, stressing that after last year’s military disengagement in Ladakh, further de-escalation along the border is necessary for normalising bilateral ties. He noted that maintaining peace and tranquility along the border is fundamental to building strategic trust and advancing relations.
Modi’s upcoming visit to China will be his first since the Galwan Valley clash of June 2020, when ties between the two nations sharply deteriorated. Modi last visited China in 2018 for the Wuhan informal summit with President Xi Jinping and the SCO Summit in Qingdao. President Xi last visited India in 2019 for the informal summit near Chennai. The two leaders are also expected to hold a bilateral meeting in Tianjin, their second in less than a year, following their talks at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in October 2024.
In recent months, both sides have made progress in normalising ties, including a pact on military disengagement in Depsang and Demchok. Relations had soured in 2020 after Chinese troops amassed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, leading to the deadly Galwan Valley clash that left casualties on both sides.
China has recently signalled its intent to improve ties with India, especially after the US imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods. Earlier this week, India announced it had engaged with China to resume border trade from three points, Lipu Lekh Pass (Uttarakhand), Shipki La Pass (Himachal Pradesh), and Nathu La Pass (Sikkim). MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed the move.
Both nations are also considering resuming direct flights soon, while China has already restarted the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage for Indian nationals. India, in turn, has resumed granting tourist visas to Chinese citizens.
NSA Doval last met Wang in Beijing on June 23 during the SCO Security Council Secretaries’ meeting, where he conveyed his intent to host the SR talks in India. EAM Jaishankar also visited China last month, stressing that after last year’s military disengagement in Ladakh, further de-escalation along the border is necessary for normalising bilateral ties. He noted that maintaining peace and tranquility along the border is fundamental to building strategic trust and advancing relations.
Modi’s upcoming visit to China will be his first since the Galwan Valley clash of June 2020, when ties between the two nations sharply deteriorated. Modi last visited China in 2018 for the Wuhan informal summit with President Xi Jinping and the SCO Summit in Qingdao. President Xi last visited India in 2019 for the informal summit near Chennai. The two leaders are also expected to hold a bilateral meeting in Tianjin, their second in less than a year, following their talks at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in October 2024.
In recent months, both sides have made progress in normalising ties, including a pact on military disengagement in Depsang and Demchok. Relations had soured in 2020 after Chinese troops amassed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, leading to the deadly Galwan Valley clash that left casualties on both sides.