SRINAGAR: An Indian soldier and five Kashmiris have died in fighting in India-held Kashmir, the Indian army said on Monday, just days after high-level talks with Pakistan were cancelled.

Colonel Rajesh Kalia claimed two men died on Sunday when the army detected a group trying to cross the Line of Control (LoC).

Three more Kashmiris and an Indian soldier were killed on Monday.

However, the incidents in the northern Tangdhar area near the LoC could not be independently verified.

Last week, India abruptly cancelled a meeting with Pakistan, just 24 hours after agreeing to the rare encounter on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

High-level talks between India and Pakistan are rare and the meeting, between their foreign ministers, would have been the first for nearly three years.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2018