NSA Doval meets with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan. Photo credit: X/@IndianEmbRiyadh

NSA Ajit Doval meets his Canadian counterpart Nathalie G. Drouin, in New Delhi on September 18, 2025
| Photo Credit: PTI

New Delhi:

Free flow of thoughts is important to avoid conflicts linked to religious identities, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval said on Sunday.

Stressing the need to focus on conflict resolution, he also observed that “introspection” by states and societies has always been important.

Doval’s remarks came in the context of larger issues linked to conflict between state and religion during the release of the Hindi version of the Turkish-American scholar Ahmet T Kuru’s book ‘Islam Authoritarianism: Underdevelopment – A Global and Historical Comparison’.

The book has been published by the Khusro Foundation.

The phenomenon of the relationship between state and religion is not unique to Islam, although in Abbasid rule there was clarity on the role of state and clergy, Doval told a packed gathering at the New Delhi World Book Fair.

He was deliberating on the broader context of the book’s theme.

Former Union minister MJ Akbar also spoke at the book release event.

In the context of Islam, Sufism is practical because “it teaches us a relationship that is not hostile”, Akbar said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before their scheduled meeting in Beijing on Wednesday (December 18, 2024).
| Photo Credit: PTI

India and China “positively affirmed” the outcome of their disengagement agreement at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), as National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Wednesday for the first boundary talks between the Special Representatives (SR) since 2019.

During the talks, Mr. Doval and Mr. Wang said that it was important to “draw from the lessons” of the four-year long military standoff at the LAC, in order to maintain peace and tranquillity at the boundary. They also discussed other ties that were derailed due to the frictions at the boundary, providing “positive directions” for cross-border exchanges, including the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage from India to Tibet, data sharing on trans-border rivers, and border trade. 

A statement issued by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Mr. Doval and Mr. Wang had held “substantive discussions” during the Special Representatives dialogue and reached a “six-point consensus”, that would see efforts to maintain peace at the borders and develop bilateral relations. While the Ministry of External Affairs did not refer to a “six-point” consensus, it reiterated most of the same points on promoting exchanges.

“The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to continue seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable package solution to the boundary issue in accordance with the political guidelines agreed upon by the special representatives of the two countries on resolving the boundary issue in 2005,” the Chinese MFA statement, one of two issued about the SR meeting, said.

Significantly, the SRs did not refer to the resumption of direct flights and the restoration of journalist exchanges, which had both been discussed when Mr. Wang met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Rio de Janeiro last month. However, after a meeting between Mr. Doval and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Beijing, an official readout stressed the need to restore exchanges in “economic, cultural and trade” areas.

Maintaining peace

“This was the first meeting of the SRs since frictions had emerged in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas in 2020. The SRs positively affirmed the implementation of the latest disengagement agreement of October 2024, resulting in patrolling and grazing in relevant areas,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement issued after the meeting, referring to the disengagement verification process in Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh.

“Drawing on the learnings from the events of 2020, they discussed various measures to maintain peace and tranquillity on the border and advance effective border management,” the MEA statement said, “underlining the importance” of peace and tranquillity at the LAC so that issues on the border do not hold back the “normal development of bilateral relations”.

Seeking boundary resolution

The resumption of the SRs process — started in 2003 to work on finding a satisfactory resolution to the decades-long India-China boundary dispute — marks a major step towards the resumption of diplomatic mechanisms that have been paused for the past few years. Mr. Doval had last met with Mr. Wang in Delhi in December 2019, just four months before the Chinese army amassed troops and transgressed along the LAC, leading to skirmishes with the Indian Army. This eventually led to the deadly Galwan clashes, the first time there had been casualties between the two armies in more than four decades.

After the October 21 agreement signalled an agreement to disengage at the last of seven friction points along the LAC, officials said that they would need to work next on de-escalation and de-induction of troops. The agreement had paved the way for the first formal talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had hailed the détente between Delhi and Beijing.

Mr. Doval and Mr. Wang, who had also met earlier this year in Moscow, were mandated to hold the SR meeting “at an early date” so as to “oversee the management of peace and tranquillity in border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question,” the statement said. Mr. Doval also invited Mr. Wang to visit New Delhi for the next round of SR talks.

‘Restore political trust’

Mr. Doval, who arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, also called on Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. According to a readout quoted by official agencies, Mr. Han said that as “ancient civilisations and emerging global powers”, India and China’s ties hold global influence and strategic significance. Both sides should “restore political trust and promote collaboration in economic, trade, and cultural areas, thus ensuring stable development in their bilateral relations,” he said.

According to the readout, Mr. Doval had responded, saying that the resumption of SR talks after a five-year hiatus was significant, and that India is committed “to strengthening strategic communication with China” and injecting new momentum into the relationship. The MEA, however, did not issue a readout on the NSA’s talks with the Chinese Vice President.

New Delhi:

India and China agreed on six points to resolve the border issue as National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi. Both sides agreed on the need to maintain peace and a commitment to continue seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable package solution to the boundary issue. The consensus points also include cross-border tourism including in areas like Tibet and cross-border river cooperation and Nathu La border trade and resumption of Mansarovar Yatra.

This was the first Special-Representative level meet since the flare-up of incidents at the border. 

The meeting follows the bilateral between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit held in Kazan last month. It was the first significant breakthough amid the chill that had set in following the clashes in Ladakh’s Galwan — the worst in decades.

Today’s meet was meant to oversee the management of peace at the border and explore a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question”.

At the meet, the two sides agreed to continue to take measures to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas and promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations. 

During discussions both SRs also underlined the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas to promote overall development of the India-China bilateral relationship.

They reaffirmed their “commitment to continue seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable package solution to the boundary issue in accordance with the political guidelines agreed upon by the special representatives of the two countries”.

Among other things the two sides also agreed to further refine the management and control rules in the border area, strengthen the building of confidence-building measures, and achieve sustainable peace and tranquility. 

The cross-border exchanges and cooperation will be strengthened and Indian pilgrims’ pilgrimage to Tibet, China, cross-border river cooperation and Nathu La border trade will be resumed, the two sides agreed. 

India and China have also agreed to hold a new round of special representatives’ meetings in India next year.

The disengagement, finalised in October, saw both India and China pull back troops from the two remaining friction points in Demchok and Depsang, after nearly four years of military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Following the disengagement, both India and China are keen to build on this momentum and re-establish trust. The special representatives’ talks, which are part of a long-established mechanism to address the border dispute, have been convened after a hiatus, with the last meeting held in 2019.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. File

India, China Special Representatives for the border mechanism, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Beijing on Wednesday (December 18, 2024) to discuss a range of issues, including management of peace and tranquillity along LAC and restoration of bilateral ties frozen for over four years due to the military standoff in eastern Ladakh.

Mr. Doval, who is heading the Indian delegation, arrived here on Tuesday (December 17, 2024) to take part in the 23rd round of the Special Representatives’ talks being held after a gap of five years. The last meeting was held in 2019 in Delhi.

The talks began at 10 a.m. China time.

The two officials were expected to discuss a range of issues to rebuild the bilateral ties following the October 21 agreement of disengagement and patrolling in eastern Ladakh between the two countries.

On Tuesday (December 17, 2024), China expressed optimism about the talks saying that it is ready to work with India to implement the commitments based on the common understandings reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping during their meeting at Kazan in Russia on the sidelines of the BRICS summit on October 24.

China is prepared to settle differences with sincerity, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a media briefing here when asked about the Special Representatives (SR) talks.

“China is ready to work with India to implement the important common understandings between the leaders of China and India, respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, strengthen mutual trust through dialogue and communication, properly settle differences with sincerity and good faith, and bring bilateral relations back to the track of stable and healthy development as soon as possible,” he said.

“The two SRs will discuss the management of peace and tranquillity in the border areas and explore a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question, as agreed upon during the meeting of the two leaders in Kazan,” the External Affairs Ministry said on Monday (December 16, 2024).

After the Modi-Xi meeting, which was their first after five years, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil followed by a meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on China-India Border Affairs (WMCC).

The military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020 and was followed by a deadly clash at the Galwan Valley in June of that year resulting in a severe strain in ties between the two neighbours.

Barring trade, relations between the two countries virtually came to a standstill.

The face-off effectively ended following the completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang under an agreement finalised on October 21.

The SRs’ meeting is regarded as significant as it is the first structured engagement between the two countries to restore relations.

Constituted in 2003 to comprehensively address the vexed dispute of the India-China border spanning 3,488 km, the SRs mechanism over the years met 22 times.

While success eluded it in resolving the boundary dispute, officials on both sides regard it as a very promising, useful and handy tool in addressing the recurring tensions between the two countries.

Beijing:

China is ready to work with India to implement the important common understandings between the leaders of the two countries and work to bring bilateral relations back on track as soon as possible, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Beijing also emphasised the need to respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, strengthen mutual trust through dialogue and communication and properly settle differences with sincerity and good faith.

Being asked about rebuilding trust between the two countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian, during a press briefing said, “China is ready to work with India to implement the important common understandings between the leaders of China and India, respect each other’s core interests and major concerns, strengthen mutual trust through dialogue and communication, properly settle differences with sincerity and good faith, and bring bilateral relations back to the track of stable and healthy development as soon as possible.”

This comes as National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and China Foreign Minister Wang Yi are set to hold the 23rd meeting of the Special Representatives in Beijing today.

The talks are expected to focus on the China-India border issue. These would be the first such high-level talks since December 2019.

The two Special Representatives will discuss the management of peace and tranquillity in the border areas and explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question, the Ministry of External Affairs stated.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed the Parliament last week, that the disengagement between India and China has been fully achieved in Eastern Ladakh through a step-by-step process, culminating in Depsang and Demchok.

He also stressed that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas is a prerequisite for the development of India-China ties.

In October this year, India and China reached an agreement regarding patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas.

The border standoff between India and China began in eastern Ladakh along the LAC in 2020, and was sparked by Chinese military actions. It led to prolonged tensions between the two nations, significantly straining their relations.

During the meeting of Prime Minister Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit held in Russia’s Kazan, PM Modi had said that maintaining peace and stability on the border should remain the priority of the two countries and mutual trust should remain the basis of bilateral ties.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

After a gap of five years, India and China are set to resume their Special Representative (SR) dialogue on border issues — the latest sign of improved ties between New Delhi and Beijing following an agreement on patrolling the boundary. National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval will lead the Indian delegation for talks scheduled to be held in Beijing on December 18.

Confirming the development, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the discussion will focus on managing “peace and tranquillity in the border areas and explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question.”

“Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor and India’s Special Representative (SR) on the India-China boundary question, will hold the 23rd meeting of the SRs in Beijing on December 18 with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China,” it said in a late-night statement.

The decision to revive the dialogue mechanism, which was suspended since 2020, was taken on the eve of a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan in October.

About Special Representative Dialogue

The special representative mechanism on the India-China boundary question was established in 2003 with the aim of exploring a political solution to the boundary issue. In 2012, New Delhi and Beijing also launched the working mechanism for consultation and coordination on border affairs.

The Wednesday meeting in Beijing will be the 23rd round of talks. The last round of SR dialogue was held in New Delhi in December 2019, and since then it has been suspended because of the eastern Ladakh border row.

India-China Ties

But the ties between India and China deteriorated sharply after the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh that began in May 2020. It followed a deadly clash at the Galwan Valley in June in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

The face-off effectively ended following the completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang under an agreement finalised on October 21 this year.

Two days after the pact was firmed up, Prime Minister Modi and President Xi held talks on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan.

In the nearly 50-minute meeting, the two sides agreed to revive several dialogue mechanisms including the Special Representatives dialogue on boundary question. Both leaders also agreed to encourage more engagement between officials “at all levels” to “promote the early return of relations between the two countries to the track of stable development”.

On his part, Prime Minister Modi underscored the importance of properly handling differences and not allowing them to disturb peace and tranquillity in border areas. He said mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity should remain the basis of the relations. 

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

Following the completion of the disengagement process in Demchok and Depsang, Indian and Chinese militaries also resumed patrolling activities in the two areas after a gap of almost four-and-a-half years.

In a statement in Lok Sabha on December 3, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India is committed to remaining engaged with China to find a fair and mutually acceptable settlement of the boundary issue but made it clear that its ties with Beijing will be contingent upon strictly respecting the sanctity of the LAC and adhering to the pacts on border management with no attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo.

The disengagement of troops has been achieved in “full” in eastern Ladakh through a step-by-step process, culminating in Depsang and Demchok, and India now expects the commencement of talks on remaining issues that it had placed on the agenda, he had said.

Since their first meeting more than a decade ago, both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have given importance to finding a solution for effective border management, and the meeting in December 2019 was the 22nd meeting in a series of discussions to find a solution to settle any differences along the more-than 4,000 km Line of Actual Control or LAC.

The LAC has no clear demarcations and both sides have their differences in understanding where the boundary lies in the harsh and arguably most difficult terrain, which spans the highest mountain ranges in the world – The Himalayas. The border, originally between India and Tibet is now considered the boundary between India and China after Tibet’s takeover by China in 1959.

New Delhi:

India and China have shown a sudden zeal to improve ties since the disengagement along the Line of Actual Control a little over a month ago. The relationship between the two most populous nations in the world was on reverse gear since the military stand-off in Ladakh more than four years ago.

However, since November the momentum has boomeranged and seems to be on overdrive – almost as though both sides want to make up for the time lost since 2020. New Delhi and Beijing understand well that for Asia to see lasting peace, the two Asian giants must lead the way. Nowhere is there a better start to this, than to find a solution to the boundary issue. And so, both sides seem to have made this a priority.

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will be meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday for a top-level meet to discuss the boundary issue. Though there has been no confirmation of this meeting from New Delhi yet, Beijing has said so in a foreign ministry statement.

“Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will meet on Wednesday in Beijing to discuss the China-India boundary question,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in a statement on Monday.

“As agreed by China and India, Wang Yi and Ajit Doval will hold the 23rd meeting of Special Representatives for China-India boundary question in Beijing on December 18,” Chinese ambassador Xu Feihong said on X.

This would be the first such meeting in five years – the last one being held in New Delhi in December 2019.

Since their first meeting more than a decade ago, both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had given importance to finding a solution for effective border management, and the meeting in December 2019 was the 22nd meeting in the series of discussions to find a solution to settle any differences along the more-than 4,000 km Line of Actual Control or LAC.

The LAC has no clear demarcations and both sides have their differences in understanding of where the boundary lies in the harsh and arguably most difficult terrain, which span the highest mountain ranges in the world – The Himalayas. The border, originally between India and Tibet is now considered the boundary between India and China after Tibet’s takeover by China in 1959.

Both sides have, on several occasions, seen military face-offs by border patrol parties, each having their understanding of where exactly the boundary lies – which point on the mountain, valley or rivers mark or indicate the LAC. Though there are buffer zones created at several points along the LAC, even there, differences often crop up in how each side demarcates the boundary.

To find a solution to this, India and China had started boundary talks, but all of that came to a grinding halt after the deadly clashes between the two armies in 2020 in Galwan Valley in Ladakh, which saw soldiers from both sides killed in action.

It took more than four years of diplomacy and dialogue at the military and diplomatic levels for both sides to disengage – an agreement for which was reached in October this year, culminating is a rare formal meeting – also the first in five years – between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The meeting took place on the sidelines of a BRICS summit in Russia.
 

New Delhi:

India and China have shown a sudden zeal to improve ties since the disengagement along the Line of Actual Control a little over a month ago. The relationship between the two most populous nations in the world was on reverse gear since the military stand-off in Ladakh more than four years ago.

However, since November the momentum has boomeranged and seems to be on overdrive – almost as though both sides want to make up for the time lost since 2020. New Delhi and Beijing understand well that for Asia to see lasting peace, the two Asian giants must lead the way. Nowhere is there a better start to this, than to find a solution to the boundary issue. And so, both sides seem to have made this a priority.

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will be meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday for a top-level meet to discuss the boundary issue. Though there has been no confirmation of this meeting from New Delhi yet, Beijing has said so in a foreign ministry statement.

“Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will meet on Wednesday in Beijing to discuss the China-India boundary question,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in a statement on Monday.

“As agreed by China and India, Wang Yi and Ajit Doval will hold the 23rd meeting of Special Representatives for China-India boundary question in Beijing on December 18,” Chinese Ambassador Xu Feihong said on X.

This would be the first such meeting in five years – the last one being held in New Delhi in December 2019.

Since their first meeting more than a decade ago, both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had given importance to finding a solution for effective border management, and the meeting in December 2019 was the 22nd meeting in the series of discussions to find a solution to settle any differences along the more-than 4,000 km Line of Actual Control or LAC.

The LAC has no clear demarcations and both sides have their differences in understanding of where the boundary lies in the harsh and arguably most difficult terrain, which span the highest mountain ranges in the world – The Himalayas. The border, originally between India and Tibet is now considered the boundary between India and China after Tibet’s takeover by China in 1959.

Both sides have, on several occasions, seen military face-offs by border patrol parties, each having their understanding of where exactly the boundary lies – which point on the mountain, valley or rivers mark or indicate the LAC. Though there are buffer zones created at several points along the LAC, even there, differences often crop up in how each side demarcates the boundary.

To find a solution to this, India and China had started boundary talks, but all of that came to a grinding halt after the deadly clashes between the two armies in 2020 in Galwan Valley in Ladakh, which saw soldiers from both sides killed in action.

It took more than four years of diplomacy and dialogue at the military and diplomatic levels for both sides to disengage – an agreement for which was reached in October this year, culminating is a rare formal meeting – also the first in five years – between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia.