India Summons Pakistani Ambassador Over Alleged Shooting

Posted January 9th, 2013 at 2:30 am (UTC-5)
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India has summoned Pakistan's ambassador to New Delhi to register a protest over the alleged grisly killing of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops in the disputed border region of Kashmir.

A spokesman for India's foreign ministry announced the move Wednesday, just hours after Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid called the incident “ghastly” and promised a proportionate response. Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony later called the clash “highly provocative” and “inhuman.”

India's military says its soldiers were on patrol Tuesday near the town of Mendhar when Pakistani troops crossed into Indian-controlled Kashmir and shot dead two Indian soldiers in a firefight. They say the Pakistani forces retreated after the gunbattle.

An Indian military official says a body of one of the soldiers was later found mutilated in Kashmir.

The incident happened two days after Pakistan said one of its soldiers was killed in the area.

Pakistan's military denied its forces carried out an unprovoked attack, saying the Indian allegations are “propaganda to divert attention of the world from Sunday's raid on a Pakistani post by Indian troops, in which a Pakistani soldier was killed.”

On Sunday, Pakistan said Indian troops crossed the disputed border known as the “Line of Control” and raided a Pakistani military outpost. They said Indian forces withdrew after an exchange of gunfire.

Pakistan protested the Indian attack.

India officials dismissed the Pakistani claims as baseless, saying their troops returned fire from across the border.

India and Pakistan have accused each other of several violations of a 2003 ceasefire in Kashmir, a region they both claim.

The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought two wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.