Chinese Foreign Minister Wang to meet Jaishankar today in New Delhi

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi
| Photo Credit:
MANDEL NGAN

Chinese Foreign Minister and politburo member Wang Yi will meet his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in New Delhi on Monday as he begins his two-day official visit to the country, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

The visit, which will focus on discussions on the politically sensitive border dispute and the possibility of ushering in peace, signals a greater thaw in India – China relations amid US tariff woes.

The MEA had earlier confirmed that the Chinese Minister is visiting India on August 18-19 at the invitation of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. “During his visit, he will hold the 24th round of the Special Representatives’ (SR) talks on the India-China boundary question with India’s SR, NSA Doval,” it said in a statement.

The border talks on Tuesday are also important as the two countries are looking at resuming border trade of locally made goods after five years.

Since October last year, India and China have started making concerted efforts to improve bilateral ties that took a big hit following the deadly clash between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan valley in 2020.

Wang will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, per the schedule shared by the MEA. Modi may visit China to attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) at the end of this month, but there is no official confirmation.

Wang’s visit to India comes at a time when Trump has struck both India and China with high tariffs, especially for their continued engagement and trade with Russia.

While India has already been penalised with additional tariffs of 25 per cent for buying oil from Russia to be imposed from August 27 (which is on top of 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs already imposed), Beijing has been hit with a total of 30 per cent tariffs for the moment. Trump recently postponed his decision to impose more tariffs on China for buying Russian oil following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

Published on August 18, 2025