Indian and Pakistani troops traded mortar and machine gun fire in the Bhimber Gali sector of the Line of Control through Friday in the first major skirmishes since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office last month. New Delhi and Islamabad both blamed each other for initiating the exchanges, which began after an Indian soldier was killed and three injured in an ambush.
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh told journalists in New Delhi that “peace and tranquility on the border is of the highest importance.”
