Indian, Chinese foreign ministers discuss border standoff

The foreign ministers of India and China met in Tajikistan on Wednesday with New Delhi stressing that a military standoff along a mountainous border area was profoundly disturbing their ties, and warning that any unilateral change in the status quo by Beijing was unacceptable.

“Full restoration and maintenance of peace and tranquility in border areas is essential for the development of bilateral ties,” Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in a tweet.

Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization foreign ministers’ meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. China’s Foreign Ministry quoted Wang as saying the standoff benefited neither side and that China wanted to resolve the situation through dialogue.

United States, India agree to boost anti-terror cooperation

The United States and India agreed Tuesday to boost counterterrorism cooperation by expanding intelligence sharing about known or suspected extremists and terrorist threats.

Speaking after conclusion of the second U.S.-India strategic dialogue in New Delhi, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said the two countries also renewed their commitment to track down and prosecute perpetrators of several terrorist attacks on Indian soil, including the 2008 strike in Mumbai that killed 172 people and a January 2016 attack on the Pathankot Air Force base. India has blamed Pakistan-linked groups for the attacks.

Shevardnaze, former Georgian president, dies at 86

Eduard Shevardnadze, a groundbreaking Soviet foreign minister and later the president of an independent Georgia, died Monday at the age of 86, his spokeswoman said.