China and India Resume Border Talks Days Before Modi and Xi Meet in Bishkek

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met in Beijing to discuss the demarcation of their shared border and the state of bilateral relations, Russia's Kommersant reported, with both sides agreeing to continue a dialogue aimed at what they described as a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement of the boundary question.

Wang called the discussions in-depth and candid and said he hoped they would produce new consensus, according to Indian reporting. Doval also met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. The two men are the designated special representatives in a mechanism created in 2003 to address a boundary running 3,488 kilometres, a dispute that produced a deadly clash in 2020 and years of frozen relations afterwards.

The timing points beyond the border itself. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping are expected to meet at least twice within three weeks, including at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek on August 31 and September 1.

Two economies that between them hold a large share of global manufacturing and consumption are easing a source of security tension at the same time both face American tariffs and sanctions pressure. That sequence is what makes the meeting economically relevant rather than merely diplomatic.