Following are the top foreign stories at 1700 hours

    
     FGN19: PAK-INDIA-TRADE
     *Business leaders urge PM Shehbaz to initiate trade talks with India which will benefit Pakistan's economy
     Islamabad: Pakistan business leaders in an interactive session with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged him to initiate trade talks with India to promote business and commerce which would greatly benefit the economy of the cash-strapped country.
    
     FGN21: BIZ-LANKA-INDIA
     Looking forward to speed up greater economic cooperation with India: Sri Lanka Prez Wickremesinghe
     Colombo: Sri Lanka is looking to accelerate greater economic cooperation with India with the tourism sector taking the lead, the island nation's President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Thursday.
    
     FGN34: LANKA-EASTER-CARDINAL-RAJAPAKSA
     Sri Lanka's ex-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa rejects Cardinal Ranjith's allegations on Easter attack probe
     Colombo: Sri Lanka's former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday categorically rejected the allegations levelled against him by the head of the country's Catholic church Cardinal Malcom Ranjith on the investigations into the deadly Easter Sunday terror attacks in 2019.
    
     FGN33: LANKA-IRAN-TIES-RAISI
     Improved Iran and Sri Lanka relations to benefit Indian Ocean Region: President Raisi
     Colombo: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said that the improved relations with Sri Lanka would benefit the two countries and the Indian Ocean region, media reports said on Thursday.
    
     FGN31: BIZ-ITC
     ITC plans to open more hotels overseas: CMD Sanjiv Puri
     Colombo: India's diversified entity ITC plans to open more hotels overseas with neighbouring countries and the Middle East as primary target markets after opening of its first international property here, company Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Puri said on Thursday.
    
     FGN29: PAK-BUSHRA-HEALTH
     Drops of toilet cleaner mixed in Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi's food: Spokesperson
     Islamabad: Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi was reportedly given at least two to three drops of "toilet cleaner" mixed in an Iftar meal, her spokesperson said on Thursday.* SCY
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)