India

In tweets, Modi said: “I am very optimistic about FIPIC Summit. Am sure it will strengthen India's bond with the Pacific island nations.”

Later, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj welcomed the 14 leaders who arrived in India for the summit.

In an address to the FIPIC leaders, she said: “You may be far from us geographically but you have always had a special place in our hearts”, according to tweets posted by external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

On August 21, India will host the heads of 14 island nations at the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), in what is seen as a first step towards greater engagement with the region, which is important from an economic and geostrategic standpoint.

The mudslide occurred in Joumol, a village in Manipur state close to India's border with Myanmar, said police officer Herojit Singh.

Police reinforcements were finding it difficult to reach the area which has been cut off by road because of heavy rains over the past three days, Singh said.

He said that the rescuers would use helicopters to land in the area on Sunday after day-break.

Television images showed people bursting firecrackers and raising an Indian flag in Masaldanga enclave which became part of India at midnight Friday.

India's External Affairs Ministry in a statement described July 31 as a historic day for both India and Bangladesh as "it marks the resolution of a complex issue that has lingered since independence" from British colonialists in 1947.