India's new Prime Minister Narendra Modi toured the ancient Japanese city of Kyoto on Sunday, the second day of a visit intended to strengthen security and economic relations and counter a increasingly assertive China.

Modi was accompanied by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on his visit to a historic temple a day after he had a private dinner with Abe.

India on Saturday branded a string of ceasefire violations along its frontier with rival Pakistan as "serious" and "provocative" and said they were hindering better ties between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

On Saturday, a soldier died in Indian Kashmir in a clash with suspected rebels near the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC), police said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused Pakistan of having made a "spectacle" of India's efforts to pursue warmer relations following the recent cancellation of bilateral talks.

Modi made the charge as he broke his silence over cancellation of foreign secretary-level discussions, which had been set for August 25 in Islamabad but were called off after Pakistan's high commissioner to New Delhi met Kashmiri separatist leaders.

Pakistan's interior minister said Friday the intransigence of anti-government protest movements had left no alternative but mediation by the army to end a two-week political crisis that has shaken the nuclear-armed nation.

The country's powerful army chief General Raheel Sharif was named mediator on Thursday in the standoff between the government and protesters led by populist cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan.

India has asked U.S. soft drinks giant PepsiCo to reduce the sugar content of its sodas as the country battles growing levels of obesity and diabetes.

PepsiCo chairman Indra Nooyi met food processing industry minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal during a visit to India on Tuesday to discuss its plans for healthier options and investing in India.

India's top court said Monday lawmakers with criminal backgrounds should not serve in government, with 13 ministers facing charges for attempted murder, rioting and other offences.

The ruling is likely to put pressure on right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who swept to power this year pledging clean governance.

Water-starved South Asian nations have devised their own answer to the Ice Bucket Challenge taking the social media world by storm, instead filling buckets with rice and other supplies for the needy.

Since June, thousands of people worldwide have doused themselves with a bucket of icy water, then posted a video recording of the stunt online and challenged others to do the same or pledge a donation.

A stampede at a Hindu temple in central India killed at least 10 people and injured scores early Monday, the latest in a string of deadly accidents at mass religious events, officials said.

Hundreds of pilgrims gathered at a holy hill in Madhya Pradesh state for a ritual that involves rolling on the ground along the "path of worship" around the site, a state official said.

India's army clashed with suspected militants in Indian Kashmir near the disputed border with Pakistan, leaving two soldiers and four rebels dead, a military official said Sunday.

Soldiers encountered the militants, who are believed to have crossed the de facto border into Indian Kashmir's Keran sector, some 150 kilometers (93 miles) northwest of the main city of Srinagar on Saturday night, the official said.

Four people were killed when nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan traded heavy fire across their border early Saturday, with each country accusing the other of "unprovoked" military action.

"Two civilians were killed" and four people injured, including a paramilitary soldier, on the Indian side of the international frontier when Pakistani forces opened fire, Indian police inspector-general Rajesh Kumar told AFP.