July 30, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 26, 1429

ISLAMABAD, July 29: Pakistan’s military on Tuesday rejected Indian accusations that it had violated the ceasefire in Kashmir, saying that Indian troops had crossed the Line of Control and opened fire first.

Pakistan also denied Indian media reports that any of its troops were killed in the fierce overnight gunbattle in the disputed region.

A Pakistani military spokesman “refuted the Indian Army’s claim that Pakistani troops had crossed 200 metres on the Indian side of the LoC (Line of Control)... which resulted in an exchange of fire”. “No Pakistani soldier had crossed the LoC,” the spokesman was quoted in a statement as saying.

“Indian soldiers wanted to establish a forward post in the area on the Pakistani side of the LoC, which was objected to by our soldiers,” the statement said.

“On Pakistan’s objection, Indian troops opened indiscriminate and unprovoked fire. The Indian fire was immediately responded to.”

The gunbattle continued throughout the night and was still underway when the statement was issued, it said.

Pakistan had “material evidence” of the Indian incursion which would be presented to the Indian military at a meeting called between the two sides, it said.

“After the firefight, the Indian soldiers were forced to flee from the area leaving behind their weapons. The evidence will be shown to the Indians during the flag meeting,” it said.

The spokesman condemned the unprovoked firing by the Indian troops and strongly denied the report of any casualty on the Pakistani side.

Meanwhile, Indian army spokeswoman Neha Goyal said the latest clashes had halted with India proposing a flag meeting.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three major wars over Kashmir since their independence in 1947 and came dangerously close to a full-scale conflict in 1999 when New Delhi accused Islamabad of pushing troops into its Kargil peaks.

That incident sparked a mini-war lasting several weeks.

In 2002, India again massed troops along the ceasefire line after tensions escalated in the wake of an attack on the Indian parliament that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based groups.—Agencies