Washington, Sept 19 : The US seems to be caught between India and Pakistan as far as upgrading the F-16 jets is concerned. While the US Congress has already okayed the programme, one major risk for the US involved in the exercise of letting the programme to go through could be straining the ties with India, Thomas Houlahan, the Director of “Military Assessment Programme” has written in an article.

He added that this risk is “offset, and possibly outweighed” by the risk of strained relations with Pakistan if the programme were to be sidetracked.

“The risk that the increasing capability gap between India and Pakistan may increase the possibility of war must also be considered,” the Daily Times quoted Houlhan as saying in the article.

New Delhi - At least two suspected Islamic militants wanted in connection with recent bombings in Indian cities were killed by the police in national capital New Delhi on Friday, officials and news reports said.

The gunbattle erupted after the militants holed up inside a flat in the Muslim-dominated Jamia Nagar area in southern Delhi fired on a police team conducting searches in connection with the blasts.

New Delhi, Sept 19 : Atiq, a militant wanted in connection with the serial blasts in Delhi and Ahmedabad, and his associate were killed while two Delhi police personnel were injured in a fierce encounter in Jamia Nagar of south Delhi today.

Talking to reporters, Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Karnail Singh said that acting on intelligence inputs, the police raided the house where Atiq and four other militants were holed up. In the exchange of fire that ensued, Atiq and another militant were killed.

New Delhi, Sept 19: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will convene a meeting of all members of the Planning Commission on Saturday to discuss the integrated energy policy and take stock of the country''s nuclear energy programme.

The meeting comes ahead of Dr. Singh’s U. S. visit, to which he will leave on Monday to attend the meeting of the 63rd session of UN General Assembly in New York.

New Delhi - At least two suspected Islamic militants were killed Friday in a gunbattle with police in New Delhi, days after bombings in the city claimed 24 lives, media reports said.

The exchange of fire came as the militants were holed up inside a flat in the Jamia Nagar area in southern New Delhi.

The NDTV network reported that the slain militants belonged to the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI).

Three other rebels and two police officers were also believed to be injured in the shootout near the Khalilullah mosque in the congested neighbourhood.

New Delhi - India's benchmark Sensex stock index gained 3.69 per cent in early trading Friday on US government plans for a mammoth bailout to contain its financial crisis.

The 30-share-sensitive index, which had been losing ground for most of the week because of the US crisis, gained 491 points soon after the markets opened. It was quoted at 13,787.11 at 11:30 local time (0600 GMT).

Similarly, the broader National Stock Exchange's Nifty index rose 2.9 per cent to 4,155.15 at the same time as all industrial sectors, led by blue-chip stocks, recorded handsome gains.