As Doval arrives in Beijing, Cong questions shift from border resolution to management

The Congress on Monday questioned the Centre’s handling of the India-China boundary dispute as National Security Advisor Ajit Doval arrived in Beijing for the latest round of talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Doval and Wang, their countries designated Special Representatives on the boundary question, will hold the 25th round of talks on Tuesday. The mechanism was established in 2003 to comprehensively address the dispute along the 3,488-km India-China border.

Congress spokesperson and MP Pawan Khera said the mechanism, created during former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure, had gradually shifted from resolving the dispute to merely managing it.

“The Special Representative mechanism created during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure was meant for border resolution. Notice the word carefully: ‘resolution’. But over time, it has been reduced to border management — not solving the dispute, but merely managing it,” Khera said.

He also criticised the government’s handling of the 2020 military standoff and referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks following the deadly Galwan Valley clash.

Khera claimed the Prime Minister’s assertion that no one had entered Indian territory had weakened India’s position and created the impression that Chinese troops had not crossed the border.

The Congress leader also accused the government of conceding ground in Ladakh and questioned its response to developments in Arunachal Pradesh.

The criticism came amid renewed tensions over territorial claims in the northeastern state. India recently rejected China’s objection to New Delhi formally identifying 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names.

The Ministry of External Affairs reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh was an “inalienable and integral” part of India and said no action by Beijing could alter that “indisputable reality”.

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of what it calls South Tibet and has issued its own sets of names for locations in the state since 2017. India has dismissed the practice as “vain and preposterous”, maintaining that assigning invented names does not change the state’s status.

Ahead of the Doval-Wang meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that peace and tranquillity along the border remained essential for stable relations between India and China.

Doval and Wang last met in August 2025 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin.

According to the External Affairs Ministry, Doval is visiting Beijing for two days at Wang’s invitation. Their discussions are expected to focus on the boundary question and measures to preserve peace and stability along the frontier.

Doval is also scheduled to meet Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng during the visit.

With agency inputs