Twenty-eight soldiers were killed and about half a dozen wounded today when a bus hit a landmine on a key Kashmir highway.
The leading Pakistan-based rebel group, Hizbul Mujahideen, claimed responsibility for the attack, which came a day after Mr Manmohan Singh took over as prime minister of India's new Congress-led coalition government.
It was the deadliest attack in Kashmir since India and Pakistan began a peace process and declared a ceasefire on their border late last year to resolve the long-standing Kashmir dispute, over which the rivals have fought two wars.
Mr Singh has vowed to carry forward the nascent peace] process with Pakistan begun last year between former prime minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Islamabad.
The two sides are also due to resume talks on their nuclear capabilities this week.
Mr Neeraj Sharma, a Border Security Force (BSF) spokesman said the bus with BSF personnel caught fire after the explosion near Lowermunda area, 60 miles south of Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital.
The bus was part of a BSF convoy going from Srinagar to Jammu, the state's winter capital.