Following are the top foreign stories at 1700 hours

     FGN33: CHINA-INDIA-2NDLD TALKS
     *Doval meets Chinese foreign minister, Special Representatives dialogue resumes
     Beijing: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met here Wednesday, resuming the Special Representatives dialogue as they sought the restoration of bilateral ties frozen for over four years due to a military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
    
     FGN42: BANGLA-INDIA-ULFA-LD CASE
     B'desh HC reduces ULFA leader's death sentence, acquits ex-minister in attempted weapon smuggling case
     Dhaka: A Bangladeshi High Court on Wednesday commuted the death sentence of ULFA leader Paresh Baruah to life imprisonment and acquitted a former junior minister and five others in a 2004 case of attempted smuggling of weapons to the separatist outfit in northeast India.

     FGN18: US-LD H1B
     Biden admin makes it easier for US companies to hire foreign workers with H-1B visas
     Washington: The outgoing Biden administration has relaxed rules for H-1B visas that will make it easier for American companies to hire foreign workers with special skills and facilitate a smoother transition from F-1 student visas to H-1B visas, a move that is likely to benefit thousands of Indian tech professionals.
    
     FGN9: US-INDIA TIES-BIDEN ADMIN
     Leaving India-US relationship in a very good place, expect continuity in Trump era: Biden admin
     Washington: The outgoing Biden administration said it was leaving the India-US relationship "in a very strong place", and exuded confidence that it will continue to have bipartisan support during the Donald Trump presidency as well.
         
     FGN37: LANKA-IMF
     Sri Lanka wins agreement with IMF for tax relief: President Dissanayake
     Colombo: President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Wednesday announced that Sri Lanka has achieved flexibility with the IMF on its rigid state revenue tax regime, something that was part of his election promise.

     FGN22: US-TRUMP-LD TARIFF
     Trump says India charges lot of tariff, threatens to impose reciprocal tax
     Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump has said that India charges "a lot" of tariff, reiterating his intention to impose reciprocal tariffs in retaliation for what New Delhi will impose on the import of certain American products.
    
     FGN24: PAK-POLIO WORKERS-LD BOMB
     Three security forces personnel killed in roadside bomb targeting polio workers in northwest Pakistan
     Peshawar: Three security forces personnel have been killed and two others injured in a blast targeting a vehicle carrying polio workers in northwest Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

     FGN10: US-INDICTMENTS-BIDEN ADMIN
     Confident of weathering challenges to India-US ties arising from indictments: Biden admin
     Washington: The outgoing Biden administration on Tuesday exuded confidence that India and the US will be able to “weather” the challenges to their relationship that arose after two recent indictments -- one related to a Sikh separatist and the other to an Indian billionaire.*

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)