Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif will on Friday hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit that is taking place in Ufa, Russia. The meeting between the two South Asian neighbours will be their first in a little more than a year and will take place amid recent heightened bilateral tensions. Mr Modi last month offered Ramadan greetings to Mr Sharif , in an apparent icebreaking move after recent provocative comments that strained ties. Border disputes, particularly over India's recent airstrikes against militants in Myanmar that rattled Pakistan, and a recent speech by Mr Modi in Bangladesh that touched on its war and secession from Pakistan had raised the tensions between the rivals. The two countries, whose relations have always been fraught, have also recently accused each other of supporting terrorist organisations.

Pressure mounting on Iran nuclear deal

Pressure is mounting on Iran and six world powers to reach a deal on its nuclear programme by Friday after the two sides twice extended their deadline for talks. Over the past two weeks, Iran, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China have been working towards completing a long-term deal under which Teheran would curb sensitive nuclear activities for more than a decade in exchange for sanctions relief. A successful deal could be the biggest milestone in decades towards easing hostility between Iran and the United States. The latest extension of the talks to Friday left open the possibility an agreement would not arrive in time to secure a 30-day review period by the Republican-dominated US Congress. If the US Congress does not receive the text by early Friday morning Vienna time - midnight in Washington - it makes the approval process longer and potentially more problematic, raising the stakes the deal could unravel.