India, Oct. 23 -- The first formal meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in five years will be closely watched for the next steps towards ending a border standoff that has taken bilateral ties to their lowest point in six decades.

Modi and Xi are set to meet on the margins of the Brics Summit in the Russian city of Kazan on Wednesday afternoon, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said on Tuesday. The development followed India's announcement that it had reached an agreement with China on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and Beijing's assertion that it will work with New Delhi to implement the understanding.

Barring brief encounters on the sidelines of the Brics Summit in J...