India and China convened the 35th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) in Beijing on Wednesday, 28 May 2025, covering a wide range of bilateral border issues including delimitation, border management, mechanism building, and cross-border cooperation. The talks mark a continued diplomatic push to consolidate the fragile normalisation of ties between the two nations following years of standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Key Developments at the 35th WMCC

The Indian delegation was led by Sujit Ghosh, Joint Secretary (East Asia), while the Chinese delegation was headed by Hou Yanqi, Director General of the Boundary and Oceanic Affairs Department of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both sides agreed to maintain regular diplomatic and military exchanges through established mechanisms, including those agreed upon during the 24th Special Representatives (SR) Talks.

India specifically pressed for an early meeting of the Expert Level Mechanism on Trans-border Rivers — a long-pending demand that has gained urgency given concerns over upstream river management and data-sharing on cross-border waterways.

What the Ministry of External Affairs Said

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) described the discussions as 'constructive and forward looking.' In its official statement, the MEA noted that both sides 'expressed satisfaction with the progress made in maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas, which has enabled progress towards gradual normalisation of bilateral relations.' The two governments also agreed to make substantive preparations for the next Special Representatives meeting, which is to be held in China.

During the visit, Sujit Ghosh separately met Liu Jinsong, Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs, and Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hong Lei — signalling engagement at multiple levels of Beijing's foreign policy apparatus.

SCO Consultations: The April Backdrop

The Beijing WMCC meeting follows an earlier round of engagement in April 2025, when India and China held Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Bilateral Consultations in New Delhi on 16-17 April. Those talks, led by India's SCO National Coordinator Ambassador Alok A. Dimri and China's National Coordinator Ambassador Yan Wenbin, focused on implementing SCO Leaders' decisions and charting the organisation's future direction.

Both delegations jointly called on Secretary (West) Sibi George to review cooperation within the SCO framework, spanning security, trade, connectivity, and people-to-people ties. Notably, Kyrgyzstan holds the SCO chairmanship for 2025-2026, with President Sadyr Japarov announcing the theme: '25 Years of the SCO: Together Towards Sustainable Peace, Development, and Prosperity.'

Why These Talks Matter Now

The WMCC is one of the primary institutional channels through which India and China manage their contested 3,488-kilometre border. The 35th edition comes amid a carefully managed thaw — following the disengagement at Depsang and Demchok in late 2024 — but significant trust deficits remain. This is the first WMCC held in Beijing since relations began their cautious recovery, lending it added diplomatic weight. The push for an Expert Level Mechanism meeting on trans-border rivers reflects India's concern that infrastructure activity upstream could affect water flows into Indian territory.

What Comes Next

Both sides are now expected to work toward scheduling the next Special Representatives meeting in China, which would bring together the top-level political envoys of both countries. Progress on that front will be closely watched as a barometer of how far the bilateral reset has actually advanced.