World News Today: International News Headlines - The Hindu | The Hindu
· collected 2026-08-25 · by Ananth Krishnan
Chinese strategic affairs scholar Hu Shisheng expects talks between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on August 25, 2026 to focus on "institutionalising stability" in their relationship despite ongoing structural differences. The two countries are holding the 25th round of talks between Special Representatives on the boundary question. Hu Shisheng suggests that preventing misunderstanding and miscalculation along the LAC and strengthening military and diplomatic communication should be the immediate priority, rather than seeking a dramatic settlement on border issues. According to Hu Shisheng, maintaining stability on the border is a key goal of the talks, in preparation for Chinese President Xi Jinping's expected visit to India next month.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-25,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on August 25, 2026, for the 25th Round of Special Representatives (SR) talks aimed at addressing the dispute over their 3,488 km border. This meeting comes ahead of a planned visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to India for the BRICS Summit next month. Doval also met with Vice-President of China Han Zheng, who emphasized the need for a long-term perspective and strategic mutual trust in bilateral relations. Hu Shisheng, a leading Chinese strategic affairs scholar, noted that despite structural differences, both countries aim to "institutionalise stability" on the border, focusing on preventing misunderstandings and miscalculations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The talks are seen as an opportunity for India and China to strengthen their relations ahead of Jinping's visit.
Written for “India China Border Tensions” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but every quote it verified points left, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 2259: score contradicts its own evidence · logged 2026-08-27
Ahead of talks in Beijing on Tuesday (August 25, 2026) between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Hu Shisheng, a leading Chinese strategic affairs scholar on South Asia, said the focus of both countries would be on “institutionalising stability” even as “structural differences” in the relationship remained.
asserted
differences → lead → relationship
Also Read | Eyes on Xi visit, ‘early harvest’ as Doval heads to Beijing
India and China will on Tuesday (August 25, 2026) hold the 25th round of talks between the Special Representatives (SRs) on the boundary question.
asserted
India → read → question
Mr. Doval and Mr. Wang, who is also a member of the Politburo, will also take stock of relations ahead of next month’s expected visit to India by Chinese President Xi Jinping for the BRICS Summit, his first visit in seven years.
asserted
who → take → years
“On the border, I would expect the immediate focus to be less on a dramatic settlement and more on institutionalising stability.
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focus → expect → stability
The priority is to prevent misunderstanding and miscalculation along the LAC, strengthen military and diplomatic communication, and turn last year’s idea of an ‘early harvest’ into an operational process,” Mr. Hu, who is Director of the South Asia Institute at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) in Beijing, told The Hindu.
asserted
who → prevent → Hindu
He was referring to an agreement at last year’s 24th round on establishing an Expert Group under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs to explore “early harvest on boundary delimitation”.
asserted
He → refer → delimitation
“The two WMCC meetings this year have discussed delimitation, so there has been procedural progress, but there is still no public indication of a concrete sectoral delimitation agreement,” Mr. Hu said.
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Hu → discuss → agreement
“The realistic next step would be to operationalise the Expert Group, agree on its mandate, timetable and criteria for identifying relatively less contentious sectors, rather than expect an immediate breakthrough on the boundary itself.”
asserted
step → operationalise → boundary
The broader challenge facing the two SRs, he said, was whether both sides “can work out a sustainable modus vivendi that avoids confrontation, keeps differences manageable, and preserves space for cooperation”.
asserted
that → face → cooperation
Mr. Hu said the timing of Mr. Doval’s visit, before the September 12 BRICS Summit in New Delhi, added significance to the visit with Mr. Xi expected to visit India.
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timing → say → India
“Both sides have a strong incentive to keep the border stable and create a favourable political atmosphere for possible leader-level interaction,” he said, adding that he viewed maintaining stability on the border, achieving “concrete and operational progress” on “early harvest” outcomes, and creating favourable conditions for the BRICS Summit as immediate priorities for the border talks.
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he → have → talks
Also Read | China’s media slams India’s move of formally naming 27 places in Arunachal Pradesh
At the strategic level, he added, Mr. Doval’s visit would help “clear potential obstacles ahead of the BRICS Summit and lay the groundwork for possible leader-level engagement.”
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visit → read → engagement
He said ensuring no unexpected border incident before the summit, setting the political tone and identifying deliverables for a possible leaders’ meeting, and coordinating the handover of the BRICS agenda from India to China, which takes over as chair next year, would be three essential issues on the table.
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which → say → table
The view in Beijing, as in Delhi, is that the normalisation in relations since the October 2024 meeting between Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi is likely to remain gradual and measured.
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normalisation → remain → Modi
“As for the broader normalisation, I would describe it as strategic risk management rather than strategic realignment,” Mr. Hu said.
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Hu → describe → management
“Recent difficulties in India-U.S. relations may give New Delhi greater incentives to diversify its strategic options, while the relative stabilisation of China-U.S. ties reduces some of the external pressure on China-India relations.
uncertain
stabilisation → give → relations
But the structural differences between China and India have not disappeared.
asserted
differences → disappear → China
What we are seeing is an attempt to build a more stable form of competitive coexistence – keeping the border peaceful, restoring practical cooperation, and expanding coordination through BRICS and the Global South without pretending that strategic competition no longer exists.
asserted
competition → see → BRICS
