The death toll from landslides and flooding triggered by torrential monsoon rains in Nepal and northern India climbed to at least 109 Saturday as tides of water, mud and rocks swept away houses, officials said.

The downpours also displaced thousands of people in the scenic Himalayan region and revived memories of a deadly deluge last year that killed more than 5,000 people in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India must build up its military might to the point that no other country "dare cast an evil eye" on the South Asian nation.

Modi made the statement at a ceremony in Mumbai for the commissioning of the country's biggest locally built warship.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned a spate of rapes as a source of shame for India and urged an end to communal violence Friday as he vowed to improve the lives of the nation's poor in his first Independence Day speech.

Modi, the son of a tea vendor who come to power in May, also delivered a withering assessment of the ruling establishment from the ramparts of New Delhi's 17th century Red Fort as he addressed often taboo subjects such as sexual violence, foeticide, religious unrest and a lack of toilets.

Suspected rebels killed two police officers and a civilian Wednesday in an ambush in Indian Kashmir a day after prime minister Narendra Modi visited the disputed region, police said.

The attack occurred late in the evening when a senior police officer travelling in his official vehicle along with two other officers was fired up on from both sides of the road in Galander, just outside Srinagar, the region's main city.

India's top court on Wednesday accused the new Hindu nationalist government of failing to move on its promise to clean up the sewage-ridden, sacred river Ganges.

The Supreme Court urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to deliver a road map on its highly-publicized pledge to restore the Ganges, which is revered by Hindus and is believed to cleanse sins.

Pakistan on Wednesday dismissed as "baseless rhetoric" claims by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it was waging a "proxy war" in disputed Kashmir.

India's Hindu nationalist leader made the remarks on Tuesday shortly before visiting Kargil, a remote area of Kashmir that was the scene of a deadly conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in 1999.

Narendra Modi accused Pakistan on Tuesday of waging a "proxy war" in Kashmir as he became the first Indian prime minister in nine years to visit Kargil, scene of a deadly 1999 conflict with Pakistan.

Modi landed in the remote Himalayan town a day after India and Pakistan traded charges of ceasefire violations on their border in Kashmir.

Pakistan on Monday summoned a senior Indian diplomat over a cross border firing incident near the eastern city of Sialkot, which left at least one civilian dead, the foreign ministry said.

The Pakistani authorities accused India of a 'ceasefire violation' and registered a formal protest over the incident, which took place on the eve of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the disputed region.

Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi telephoned his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, seeking an early resolution of a case involving two Italian marines that has soured diplomatic ties, Modi's office confirmed Monday.

Marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone are accused of shooting two Indian fishermen off southern coastal Kerala state in February 2012 while serving as security guards on an Italian-flagged cargo ship.

Flooding in eastern India has killed 45 people and displaced more than 300,000 in the past week, a senior official said Monday, adding that water levels were now gradually receding.

Residents have been sheltering in relief centers in Orissa since being evacuated from their homes when torrential monsoon rains flooded rivers in mainly northern districts of the state.