Pakistan summoned the Indian ambassador Thursday after a "spy drone" was shot down in disputed Kashmir, as officials said five people were killed in cross-border shelling between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

The flare-up between the two countries, who have fought three wars since 1947, comes days after their prime ministers met in Russia in an apparent sign of a thaw in relations.

The Pakistani military said Wednesday it had shot down an Indian spy drone on its side of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

The incident came days after a meeting between the Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers in Russia last week signaling a new thaw in the ties between the two nuclear-armed rivals.

India's Maoist rebels have killed four policemen they abducted from a bus in the restive central state of Chhattisgarh, a senior officer said Wednesday.

The guerrillas stopped the bus transporting the security personnel as it was passing through a Maoist-dominated village late Monday.

A stampede on the banks of a holy river killed at least 27 pilgrims Tuesday in southern India in a tragic beginning to a religious festival season.

The stampede in Rajahmundry, on the border of the twin states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, erupted about two hours after the dawn start of the Maha Pushkaralu festival which sees thousands of people bathe in the Godavari river.

India's Maoist rebels abducted four policemen in the restive Indian state of Chhattisgarh late Monday after intercepting a passenger bus, a top security official said. 

The guerrillas stopped the bus transporting the security personnel as it was passing through Kutru village in Bijapur district, the senior police officer said.

Ten endangered Asiatic lions, 1670 blue bulls and 87 spotted deer were amongst hundreds of wild animals killed in the recent floods to hit west India's Gujarat, a government report said Sunday.

The flash floods that hit Saurashtra region of the state in late June also killed at least 55 people with thousands evacuating their homes for safer areas after heavy rains.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted an invitation Friday from his counterpart Nawaz Sharif to attend a regional summit in Islamabad next year in what would be his first visit to Pakistan.

After around an hour of talks between the two leaders in Russia, their governments issued a joint statement agreeing they had "a collective responsibility to ensure peace and promote development" between the two nuclear armed neighbors.

Move over selfie, India is embracing the "velfie" with Bollywood stars, sporting heroes and even politicians taking and posting videos of themselves online using a range of new mobile apps.

From lip-synching famous movie scenes and quizzing political leaders to interviewing job candidates, Indian tech firms are betting on the latest craze to grip social media -- the video selfie.

India's army killed three suspected rebels on Friday in Kashmir during a gun battle near the de facto border that divides the restive territory between India and Pakistan, police said.

Soldiers confronted a group of armed men in a forested area in Uri, 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of the main city of Srinagar, triggering the shoot-out, Javid Gillani, inspector general of police, said.

Some 1,400 primary school teachers have quit in an eastern Indian state in recent months amid an ongoing investigation into fake qualifications, an education official said Friday.

More resignations are likely before the end of an amnesty period that allows teachers in Bihar to quit to avoid legal action for falsifying their degrees, state education department principal secretary R.K Mahajan said.