Pakistan today said four of its soldiers died and five others injured in cross-border firing by India across the Line of Control (LoC) and claimed to have killed three Indian troops.
The Foreign Office later summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh to protest the killing of the soldiers.
The army's media wing Inter Services Public Relations said that troops were busy in line communication maintenance when they were fired upon and hit by heavy mortar round along the LoC in Kotli sector's Jandrot area.
It said four Pakistani soldiers died in the incident.
"Exchange of fire killed 3 Indian soldiers while few injured," the army said in a brief statement.
The Indian Army, however, said seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in its retaliatory firing.
In a statement, the Foreign Office claimed that India violated the ceasefire agreement in Jandrot sub-sector of Kotli sector, resulting in the death of four Pakistani soldiers. Five others were injured in the incident.
Director General (SA & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned Singh and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces, using heavy mortars, the statement said.
He said despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations.
In 2018, the Indian forces have carried out more than 100 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary in just 15 days, he claimed.
"This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1,900 ceasefire violations," Faisal alleged.
He said "deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas and troops carrying out maintenance activities is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws".
The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation, he claimed.
He urged India to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct Indian forces to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the working boundary.
He said India should permit the UNMOGIP to play its mandated role as per UN Security Council resolutions.
India maintains that the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the Line of Control (LoC).
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