Ahead of his first visit to India, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has said the United States is looking for new partners and relationships in Asia Pacific region which represents both opportunities and challenges.
The meetings with the chief ministers will be held on Saturday, an official said.
The meeting primarily focused on implementation of certain decisions taken at the fifth round of talks between Corps Commanders of the two armies last week on the disengagement process as well as to bring down prevailing tension in the region, sources said.
Biden and Modi committed that the US and India will work closely together to win the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, renew their partnership on climate change, rebuild the global economy in a way that benefits the people of both countries, and stand together against the scourge of global terrorism, the White House said in a readout of the call.
Pakistani authorities have lodged a first information report into the Pathankot terror attack case, officials said on Friday.
At the talks, the Indian side insisted on complete disengagement of Chinese troops at the earliest and immediate restoration of status quo ante in all areas of eastern Ladakh prior to May 5 when the standoff began following a clash between the two armies in Pangong Tso, they said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday left for home from Bhutan, concluding his first foreign trip after assuming office last month. He was given a warm send off by Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and several of his cabinet colleagues at the Paro airport.
With no agenda announced for the meeting, the leaders from Jammu and Kashmir said they have come with an open mind.
The next phase of the de-escalation process will kick off only after the fourth round of talks between corps commanders of the two sides.
Shringla said that diplomacy is looking at a very changed scenario in terms of how statecraft and relations between countries work in the wake of the pandemic.
The military delegation will be in Delhi "shortly" and confer with top Indian Army officials as well as those in the ministry of external affairs to evolve a road map for a counter-insurgency strategy, reports Nitin Gokhale.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is all set for an unprecedented third five-year term as he was 'elected' to the powerful Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party on Saturday while several top leaders including Premier Li Keqiang have been left out in the major shake-up at the top.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said complete disengagement requires re-deployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts on their respective sides of the Line of Actual Control(LAC) and this can be done only through mutually agreed actions.
Wang arrived in Delhi on Thursday evening in the highest-level visit between the two countries after the ties came under severe strain following the military standoff in eastern Ladakh that began nearly two years ago.
He said both sides reaffirmed to sincerely work towards complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Joe Biden at the White House on Friday in his first bilateral meeting with the US president during which the two leaders are expected to discuss a wide range of priority issues, including combating Covid-19, climate change, economic cooperation as well as Afghanistan.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said India "sticks to its stand" that dialogue must be held only on terrorism at the Indo-Pak National SecurityAdvisor-level talks, which are under a cloud over the issue of Kashmiri separatists.
India on Friday made it clear to Pakistan that it should not go ahead with the meeting of its NSA Sartaz Aziz with Hurriyat representatives in New Delhi when he comes to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, saying it will not be "appropriate".
"Ambassador Mittal raised India's concern that Afghanistan's soil should not be used for anti-Indian activities and terrorism in any manner," it added.
'Jaish looked to creating regional mayhem, at a time when peace appeared more likely, and when that peace would have threatened Jaish's existence.'
India and US on Wednesday night signed a new strategically important 10-year defence framework agreement setting the stage for co-development and manufacture of defence equipment.
The Indian Armed Forces will express their gratitude to all "corona warriors" by conducting fly-pasts, showering petals on hospitals treating COVID-19 patients and illuminating naval vessels, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said on Friday.
'Modi's decision to hold out an olive branch to Sharif within 48 hours of the 'surgical strikes' has been a timely move as it helps tensions to 'de-escalate',' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat was laid to rest with a 17-gun salute and full military honours on Friday.
The Trump administration wants Prime Minister Modi to lower the trade barriers and embrace "fair and reciprocal" trade.
India and China have so far held 19 rounds of talks to resolve the boundary dispute.
COAI has argued that in India the government has been working to keep telecom networks secure, with reviews of the security policy and the insertion of specific clauses into the licences to prevent any risk to network security.
In his address at an extraordinary video conference of the G-20 leaders, Modi also urged the grouping to come out with a concrete action plan to fight the pandemic and said human beings rather than economic targets should be put at the centre of its vision for global prosperity and cooperation.
The two sides are also expected to explore ways to deepen defence collaboration, including exercises, defence transfers and technologies ahead of the next edition of the 2+2 defence and foreign ministerial dialogue to be held in the US later this year, they said.
The military brass is learnt to have apprised Modi about the evolving situation in eastern Ladakh, though officials maintained that the agenda of the pre-scheduled meeting was to discuss the ambitious military reforms and ways to boost India's combat prowess.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned India's first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant in Kochi on Friday, that put India into a select league of countries with domestic capability to build such large war ships.
The development comes on the same day that Home Minister Rajnath Singh held a second meeting to review security in the area.
The Congress and other opposition parties have accused the police of bias and inaction in the Delhi violence.
With an eye on beefing up maritime security, India is negotiating a deal with 24 countries for exchange of neutral merchant shipping data as it rolls out a national hub to tackle all aspects of coastal security to prevent another 26/11-like attack.
The team's movement would be restricted only to the area of the engagement between security forces and the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists.
The Army has also further bolstered overall surveillance mechanisms in all areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh after foiling China's fresh attempt to occupy an area on the southern bank of Pangong lake, they said.
The former chief minister said his party was not running away from polls, but wanted the Centre to do justice with the people of Jammu and Kashmir first and take effective steps for the protection of the state's special position.
Extending a formal invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a visit to the US, President Barack Obama has expressed keenness to work closely with him to make the bilateral relations a "defining partnership" in the 21st century.
Sharif 'assured Prime Minister Modi that his government would take prompt and decisive action against the terrorists,' the PMO said.
This will be after over two decades that the 'black cat' commandos of the elite counter-terror force will be taken out from VIP protection duties, a task not originally charted for it when the force was conceptualised and raised in 1984.
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