Indian forces fired across the de facto border in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, killing a Pakistani soldier in the latest flare-up between the nuclear-armed rivals, the Pakistani army said yesterday.
An Indian army spokesman said Indian forces had been fired at first.
Relations between the neighbors, who have fought three wars since 1947, went into a freeze after Pakistan-based militants attacked Mumbai in 2008, killing 166 people.
But the countries’ prime ministers met on the sidelines of a regional conference in Bhutan last month and agreed to get talks going again to tackle their disputes.
The Pakistani army said Indian forces opened “unprovoked” fire across the so-called Line of Control (LoC) — which divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan — in the Battal sector of Pakistan’s Rawalakot district, killing one soldier.
“Intermittent firing is continuing in the sector,” the army said in a statement.
A strong protest had been lodged with India and an immediate meeting of commanders in the area had been demanded.
Indian army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Biplab Nath said there had been no casualties on the Indian side.
“We were fired on and our troops retaliated. The exchange of fire continued for some time,” he said.
India often says flare-ups on the LoC begin from the Pakistani side, in order to create a diversion for militants to slip into Indian Kashmir to join an insurgency against Indian rule in the Muslim-majority region.
Nath said it was not clear if militants or Pakistani soldiers had begun the shooting, which took place in the same area where two Indian soldiers were killed on May 18 by cross-border fire.
Pakistan supports what it calls a freedom struggle by the people of Kashmir against what it sees as the brutal and illegitimate Indian occupation of the region.
But it denies arming the guerrillas, who have been fighting Indian forces since 1989.
India says Pakistan arms the militants and pushes them into Indian Kashmir, while sending some to launch attacks in Indian cities.
A late 2003 ceasefire between the two sides across the dividing line in Kashmir has largely held although there have been several exchanges of fire over the past year.
The latest incident was not expected to derail the resumption of talks the prime ministers agreed on last month.
Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna is due to visit Pakistan in July.
The US wants to see an easing of tension so Pakistan can turn its attention from its border with India and focus on fighting Islamist militants.
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