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India lashes out at Pakistan after deadly Kashmir encounter

By REUTERS

JANUARY 9, 2013 09:27

JAMMU, India - India slammed arch-rival Pakistan on Wednesday over a firefight in the disputed territory of Kashmir in which two of its soldiers were killed, and said the mutilation of one of the bodies was "inhuman."

Officials said Pakistan's envoy to New Delhi was likely to be summoned during the day to register a protest over Tuesday's incident, in which Pakistani troops crossed the territory's heavily militarized Line of Control (LoC) and fired at an Indian army patrol.

"Pakistan Army's action is highly provocative," Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony, told reporters in New Delhi.

Firing and small skirmishes between the two countries are common along the 740-km (460-mile) LoC despite a ceasefire and slowly improving bilateral ties. The Indian army says eight of its soldiers were killed in 2012, in 75 incidents. However, incursions by troops from either side are rare, and one Indian media report said Tuesday's incident marked the "first major ingress" since the ceasefire was agreed in 2003.

Pakistan has denied the latest Indian allegations. A Pakistani military spokesman said they were "propaganda" aimed at diverting attention away from a clash along the LoC two days earlier in which Pakistan had said one of its soldiers was killed after an Indian incursion.

India denies that its troops crossed over the line during last weekend's incident.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region.

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