The prime ministers of India and Pakistan agreed Sunday to restore cross-border calm after a spate of shootings threatened a decade-long ceasefire in the disputed Kashmir region. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif for more than an hour on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, to discuss a series of fatal clashes on their de facto Himalayan border.

When Nitish Kumar became chief minister of the dirt-poor Indian state of Bihar in 2005, kidnapping was said to be the leading industry in the capital city of Patna. People searching for stolen cars were advised to check the driveway of a leading politician, who reportedly commandeered vehicles for “election duty.”

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be meeting with President Obama in Washington next week to discuss economic and trade cooperation between the United States and India. One of the most critical topics on the table will be immigration reform as it relates to Indian workers in the United States.

A three-day archive exhibition portraying the shared culture of Pakistan and India concluded at the National College of the Arts, Rawalpindi on Saturday. The exhibition, part of a 14-month project titled, “Exchange for Change: Pakistan and India 2012-2013”, involved around 3,500 students from Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Mumbai, Delhi and Chandigarh. Participants from the two nations said their stories are the same and worth sharing with the general public to dispel misconceptions prevalent on both sides of the border.

When India decided it wanted to form its own Model United Nations conference – just like the one in New York – the U.S. State Department wanted to help. But the department required a little help too and called upon Alma College for assistance. The choice of Alma College was something of a no brainer.

The Afghan capital erupted in joyous pandemonium Wednesday night after the national soccer team defeated India to win the South Asian Football Federation championship. It was the first international soccer trophy ever for the war-weary nation and the first ebullient mass outpouring anyone here could remember.

When Barack Obama welcomes Manmohan Singh to the White House on Sept. 27, the Indian prime minister will voice his concerns over the US immigration bill. In its present form, the bill makes it much more difficult for Indian tech companies to get the visas they need to bring workers into the United States. Obama will listen. But if Singh wants his way, India might also try ceding some ground. It explicitly prohibits foreign direct investment (FDI) in e-commerce, though it’s opening up the market to foreign companies operating brick-and-mortar stores.

India’s premier agency for cultural diplomacy, the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), now run by the Ministry of External Affairs may soon change hands. The 63-year-old autonomous body’s mandate is to promote Indian culture abroad and is part of the government’s strategic use of soft power to woo foreign countries. MEA feels that hard selling India’s soft power in foreign countries through exchange of artistes, exhibitions, festivals, and even yoga is a better fit with the culture ministry.