National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday and reviewed bilateral relations, including progress in efforts to normalize relations following the military standoff on the Line of Actual Control that lasted more than four years.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said on social media that Doval met Wang, who works as NSA in his role as Director of the Office of the Central External Affairs Committee, on the sidelines of the meeting of national security agencies of BRICS countries in New Delhi.
“Both sides reviewed recent developments in bilateral relations and noted progress towards gradual normalization,” Jaiswal said, without elaborating. He described the discussions as “constructive and forward-looking.”
Doval “emphasised that stable, constructive and predictable bilateral relations contribute to building trust and better understanding between the two sides,” Jaiswal said.
Chinese Ambassador Xu Feihong said earlier on social media that the Chinese side will take advantage of the BRICS negative security assurances meeting on June 22-23 to exchange views on the international security situation, major international and regional issues, and joint response to traditional and non-traditional security challenges.
The NSA meeting comes as part of preparations for the BRICS summit, which India, the bloc’s current president, will host in September.
This is Wang’s first visit to India in nearly a year, against the backdrop of efforts made by both sides to normalize relations between them. He was absent from the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting hosted by India last May, as its timing conflicted with US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing. Wang last visited India in August 2025, when he met Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
After India and China reached an understanding in October 2024 to end the military standoff on the Line of Actual Control that had lasted for more than four years and brought relations to their lowest level in six decades, the two sides took several steps to normalize their relations and address their border dispute.
Doval traveled to China in December 2024 to attend a special representatives meeting, and this was followed by Wang’s trip to India last August to hold another meeting under the same mechanism. These meetings focused largely on disputed parts of the border and other confidence-building measures.
The two sides have resumed direct flights and restored the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra to Tibet, and India has also relaxed visa regulations for Chinese citizens. China has also eased some restrictions on the export of heavy machinery, rare earth magnets and fertilizers.
