India summons envoy to Pakistan over Kashmir

NEW DELHI

India summoned Pakistan’s top diplomat in New Delhi yesterday to formally complain about an attack on an Indian army patrol in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir that killed two soldiers and left their bodies mutilated.

Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said Pakistan’s ambassador in New Delhi Salman Bashir had been “spoken to in very strong terms,” but he struck a note of caution and warned against further moves to inflame tensions, according to Agence France-Presse. India’s Ministry of External Affairs also said that Pakistan has been asked to “investigate these actions that are in contravention of all norms of international conduct and ensure that these do not recur.” A senior military official in Islamabad denied that its troops had been involved in any attack and accused India of “propaganda.”

The two Indian soldiers died after a firefight erupted in disputed Kashmir on Jan. 8 as a patrol discovered Pakistani troops inside Indian territory, Indian army said. India said the bodies of the two soldiers killed were “subjected to barbaric and inhuman mutilation,” according to The Associated Press.