‘Early Harvest’ — larger but not necessarily safer
Recent diplomatic talks between India and China have revived the term 'Early and Substantial Harvest' regarding boundary delimitation. The author questions whether this indicates a genuine shift in China's position or merely a continuation of stalled negotiations over disputed territories.
Why it matters
The India-China border dispute is a critical geopolitical issue that affects regional stability and international relations in Asia.
On August 25, 2026, in Beijing, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi held the 25th round of talks between the Special Representatives (SRs) on the India-China boundary question. That evening’s readouts from both sides were anodyne and notably avoided a phrase that has dominated this discussion for a year: early harvest . A day later, the two sides released an “Eight Points of Outcomes and Consensus” . Point 3 restored and enhanced the phrase: the Expert Group on Boundary Delimitation and the Working Group on Border Management, set up under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) a year ago, would “respectively advance discussions on an Early and Substantial Harvest of boundary delimitation and Border Management”.
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