National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday called on Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Beijing and discussed ways to strengthen “peace and tranquillity” in the border areas and further improve bilateral relations.The meeting came ahead of the 25th round of boundary talks that Doval, in his capacity as Special Representative, will hold with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday.The Indian Embassy in China, in a post on social media, described the meeting between Doval and Han, saying they “discussed ways to strengthen peace & tranquillity in the border areas and further improve bilateral relations across economic, political and multilateral fora, in accordance with the consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries”.The “consensus” referred to by the embassy is the one reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in October 2024. It tasked Doval and Wang Yi with sorting out the border issue between the two countries.Doval and Wang are the designated Special Representatives of the two countries and are scheduled to hold the 25th round of talks on Tuesday.This will be the first meeting of the Special Representatives in a year. The previous round was conducted in New Delhi in August last year and reiterated the 2005 agreement, titled “Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question”, as a reference point to comprehensively address the boundary dispute.The two countries do not have a demarcated boundary, and armed troops guard their positions along what is called the Line of Actual Control (LAC), spanning 3,488 km.An “expert group” was set up to “explore an early harvest in boundary delimitation”. The reference to the two-decade-old agreement for resolving the contentious boundary means the two neighbours need to take a tough political call to take things forward.Also, as a measure to overcome any breaches at the LAC, the two countries in August last year announced a “working group” under the existing Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC). It is tasked with effective border management to maintain peace and tranquillity in border areas.India has been consistent in linking peace and tranquillity in border areas to overall ties with China.On August 11, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, replying to media queries, said, “In matters relating to the border areas between India and China, we have always emphasised in discussions with the Chinese side that we consider these issues as most serious and that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in these areas is of the utmost importance.”