India and China agree to push for ‘early harvest’ on border delimitation, announce new military hotlines

India and China have signalled a tentative step forward on their long-running border dispute, agreeing to push for an “early and substantial harvest” of boundary delimitation after high-level talks in Beijing. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and China’s Wang Yi, the country’s top diplomat, met on Tuesday for the 25th round of Special Representatives talks on the boundary question. The discussions produced an eight-point consensus that officials on both sides described as constructive.

At the heart of the "consensus" is a decision to activate two technical groups under the existing border coordination mechanism. An Expert Group on Boundary Delimitation and a Working Group on Border Management will now draw up their "terms of reference" and begin work aimed at delivering concrete results in selected sectors of the roughly 3,500km contested frontier.

“The Expert Group on Boundary Delimitation and Working Group on Border Management under the WMCC would respectively advance discussions on an Early and Substantial Harvest of boundary delimitation and Border Management,” the joint outcomes stated. “The first task for both these groups would be to agree on their respective Terms of Reference.”

The language marks a modest advance on last year’s agreement merely to “explore” an early harvest. Diplomats say it reflects a shared desire to move beyond crisis management after years of tension following the deadly 2020 clash in the Galwan Valley. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the 2005 political parameters agreement and to seeking “a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution.” They also pledged to maintain peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control, stressing that any incident on the ground should be resolved quickly through existing military and diplomatic channels.

Practical measures include two new meeting points for senior military commanders and additional hotlines in the eastern and middle sectors. Progress was noted on the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage and the reopening of three traditional border trading posts. Talks on shared rivers are scheduled for next month, and the next Special Representatives meeting will take place in India in 2027.

Relations between the two Asian giants have seen a limited re-set since PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of summits in 2024 and 2025. Troop disengagement in eastern Ladakh and the gradual restart of flights, visas, and people-to-people exchanges have created space post such high-level meetings.