China’s Wang Yi to meet PM Modi in Delhi on Tuesday

Source: WION | Original Published At: 2025-08-17 15:25:00 UTC

Key Points

• Wang Yi's visit marks the 24th round of India-China border talks with NSA Ajit Doval
• First meeting between PM Modi and Chinese foreign minister since 2020 Galwan clashes
• Discussions include river water data sharing, resumption of direct air services, and people-to-people exchanges
• India-China relations have been strained since 2020 but show signs of diplomatic thaw
• PM Modi to attend SCO summit in China later this month

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, who will be on an India visit starting tomorrow, will meet PM Modi on Tuesday. FM Yi meets PM Modi even as India-China ties look at a reset, a process started after India, China leaders met on the sidelines of the Kazan BRICS summit last year. For a visiting foreign minister, to get an audience with the Indian Prime Minister is rare. The Chinese foreign minister will be on a 3-day India visit for the 24th round of India-China Special Representatives (SR) level border talks with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The last round of such talks took place in Beijing in December 2024. The mechanism was initiated following a proposal by then-Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his 2003 visit to China, and aims to explore a political framework for resolving the boundary issue.

Wang Yi arrives in the Indian national capital on Monday, and also meets EAM Dr S Jaishankar. This will be the 2nd visit of the Chinese foreign minister to India since the 2020 Galwan clashes, the last being in March 2022.

As part of the reset of ties, focus is on cooperation on the sharing of river water data, resumption of direct air services, and exchanges between media and think-tanks. The holy Kailash Mansarovar Yatra started this year after a gap of several years.

This year, Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and EAM Jaishankar visited China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO meetings. China is the host of the grouping for this year and will be hosting the summit later this month, from 31st August to 1st Sept, and for this, PM Modi will be travelling to the country. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had travelled to China in January.

Ties between the 2 Asian neighbours were on a free fall since the Galwan clashes of 2020. India’s increased worry has been China’s support to Pakistan, a country that has been supporting cross-border terrorism against India and is seen as a destabilising factor in the region as well. Pakistan has one of the largest numbers of its nationals listed as terrorists on the UN’s international terror list.