India and China discussed ways to improve their understanding of each other’s perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the 25th Round of Special Representatives talks on the boundary question held in Beijing on Tuesday (August 25, 2026).
The eight-point outcome document released on Wednesday (August 26), a day after the talks between National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, acknowledged those concerns.
It said the two sides “discussed ways to improve understanding of LAC in appropriate areas, for better border management”. The joint consensus statement noted both sides agreed that “any situation on the ground would be addressed promptly through existing diplomatic and military channels, including the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC), local commander‑level meetings and other agreed mechanisms, to resolve outstanding issues and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation along the LAC.”
During his first visit to China as Prime Minister in 2015, Narendra Modi made a public pitch to resume the LAC clarification process. That process, which would start with both sides agreeing to the terms of reference, is expected to focus on sectors where there are no pronounced differences in alignment. India has long pitched for clarifying the LAC to reduce the likelihood of incidents between patrols in areas where claims overlap. That did not happen, with Chinese officials saying a clarification process on LAC alignment would further complicate attempts to resolve the boundary dispute.
Another key outcome said an Expert Group on Boundary Delimitation would “advance discussions on an Early and Substantial Harvest of boundary delimitation”. The 1996 agreement on confidence-building measures noted the need for the two sides “arriving at a common understanding of the alignment of the LAC” and said both “agree to speed up the process of clarification and confirmation of the LAC”.
