Indian experts attending the 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, held under the theme "Build Consensus on Stability, Advance Security Governance Together" from September 15 to 17, 2026 in Beijing, highlighted cooperation with China on AI governance and maritime security and voiced hope that continued dialogue would ease border tensions and gradually advance a settlement while allowing broader bilateral cooperation to move forward. The forum, which concluded on Thursday, brought together around 2,000 guests from more than 100 countries, regions, and international organizations. Retired Lieutenant General Ravindra Singh Panwar, a distinguished fellow at the United Service Institution of India, said all three Indian defense attachés had attended the forum for the first time in recent years, viewing their participation as a sign of steps by the two countries to improve relations, with the aim of maintaining peace along the border and continuing discussions toward a settlement while making progress in other areas including people-to-people exchanges. He said both countries share support for multilateralism and platforms such as BRICS, and that "there is a momentum in that direction" on potential security cooperation. Retired Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha said resolving the border issue will be a long-term process beginning with building mutual confidence and identifying shared understanding of the border, with more dialogue needed where differences remain. Their comments followed the 25th round of talks between the special representatives of China and India on the boundary question, held in Beijing on August 25, 2026, which produced an eight