India says Pakistan border clashes ‘extremely serious and provocative’

Clashes along India's border with Pakistan are ‘extremely serious and provocative’ and not conducive to improving relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday. The comments came nearly two weeks after New Delhi called off top level diplomatic talks, protesting against Pakistan's meetings with separatists from the disputed region of Kashmir. Exchanges of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Indian- and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir have intensified in recent weeks, claiming lives of several people, including soldiers. ‘The incursions taking place at the border both at the LoC and at the international border are extremely serious and provocative,’ Jaitley said. ‘These are creating an environment which are not being conducive to the relationship of the two countries.’ The clashes have further strained ties between the two South Asian countries, which have been at loggerheads over the possession of the Himalayan region of Kashmir since their independence from the British rule in 1947, according to Reuters.