Indian and Pakistani troops traded heavy mortar and machinegun fire across their tense border in the disputed Kashmir region today, an Indian defence spokesman said.
He said there were Pakistani casualties from the fighting, which occurred as India marked the anniversary of its founding as a republic, but he could not give a figure.
Heavily armed security forces were deployed on India's streets today to prevent any violence at a time of tension with its nuclear neighbour Pakistan.
India has demanded Islamabad crush Pakistan-based Kashmir militants whom New Delhi blames for an attack on its parliament last month.
It has also linked them to this week's attack on a US cultural office in Calcutta.
The annual January 26th celebrations marking India's founding as a republic soon after independence from Britain in 1947 have often been marred by violence in Kashmir and the northeast.