Washington - The United States on Friday condemned violence against Christians in India that has escalated in recent weeks, leaving about 20 dead and thousands homeless.

"We urge all parties to refrain from violence and urge government officials to protect religious freedom throughout India and thus preserve India's longstanding tradition of religious tolerance," Thomas Hanford, ambassador at large for international religious freedom, said in Washington at the annual release of the State Department's International Religious Freedom Report.

New Delhi, Sept 20: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will convene a meeting of all members of the Planning Commission here today 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, Sep 19 : India and China today failed to reach any specific agreements on their disputed boundary issue in the latest round of negotiations, but decided to pursue their goal for a fair and reasonable solution acceptable to both sides.

“Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Indian National Security Adviser M K Narayanan headed their delegations for the talks, which were pragmatic, candid and friendly,” a statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said here.

New Delhi, Sep 19 : The joint exercise between Indian and British troops being held at the Land Warfare Centre in the Salisbury plains in UK ended today.

Mechanized Infantry troops of the Indian Army carried out the joint training and exercises with the UK Army from August 29 to September 19.

India and UK are key strategic partners and enjoy a close relationship on defence matters. The joint training and exercise was a golden opportunity for both armies to train together and gain from each other’s experience.

The joint training culminated in two exercises “Ex Lion strike” and “Ex Wessex Warrior”. The final day of Exercise Wessex Warrior culminated today at Land Warfare Centre in Salisbury plains in UK.

Beijing - China and India on Friday ended their latest two-day round of talks on border disputes with an agreement to continue dialogue but no sign of progress.

"Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Indian National Security Adviser MK Narayanan headed their delegations for the talks, which were pragmatic, candid and friendly," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement released through the government-run Xinhua news agency.

The talks were the 12th round since China and India appointed special representatives in 2003 to explore solutions to their long-standing border disputes.

The ministry statement said the two sides "exchanged in-depth views on a framework to solve the issue," the agency said.

New Delhi, Sept 19 : The Indian Navy on Friday sought the Government’s approval for establishing a system to provide a befitting response to such situations after a
22-member crew of a merchant tanker with 18 Indians that was abducted by Somali pirates recently.

On the sidelines of a seminar on defence accounts here, Vice-Admiral of the Navy R P Suthan said: “The Navy is working along with the Government to find a way to respond to situations like ship hijacking by sea pirates.”