After diplomatic win for India, PM Modi, Xi Jinping to hold bilateral talks today: 10 points

* According to external affairs ministry officials, Modi will meet Xi at 12.30 pm (10 am IST), in what will be his last official engagement before flying off to Myanmar on a bilateral visit.
* Modi and Xi last met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany in July. Their last bilateral meet though was in June during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet held in Kazakhstan
* The two leaders will meet after a productive day yesterday at the BRICs summit.Brushing off the recent two-month discord with China, India displayed robust participation at the Xiamen BRICS meeting, with PM Modi saying the group contributes "stability and growth in a world drifting towards uncertainty".
* Modi and Xi are today expected to discuss ways to create confidence building measures, among other matters of mutual interest. This will be a continuation then of the strong, pro-peace posture the PM adopted in his address at the summit yesterday. Modi pitched strongly for "people-to-people exchanges" between countries, saying that "such intermingling will consolidate our links and deepen our understanding" in a world "drifting towards uncertainty".
* PM Modi didn't mention the Doklam border issue or the issue of Pakistan-based terror groups. Turns out, he didn't need to. In a significant concession, China yesterday agreed to include specific references to Pakistan-based anti-India terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammed in the BRICS declaration.
* What's more, the Declaration also talked of the need for a more robust mechanism to designate individuals 'terrorists'. This is particularly significant for India because China is the one that has consistently blocked India's attempt to get the UN to sanction Jaish chief Maulana Masood Azhar.
* Following this declaration, China is likely to ask Pakistan to crack down on Lashkar and Jaish, two experts associated with Chinese government think tanks told TOI on Monday.
* When asked why there was a change in China's approach to the issue, the Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement saying that the concerned organizations "are violent in nature" and have been "censured by the UN Security Council".
* Yesterday, Modi held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed ways to boost bilateral trade and investment. They also discussed the security situation in Afghanistan.
* PM Modi met Brazilian President Michel Temer as well and discussed a partnership based on a "common global vision". The two had last met at the 2016 BRICS Summit hosted by India in Goa. Bilateral relations between India and Brazil have acquired the dimension of a strategic partnership in the last decade.