Top Union Ministers meet over Pakistan's ceasefire violations, spy drone claim

The meeting was held amid continuing ceasefire violations by Pakistan, the latest being on Thursday-the ninth attack in a month.

Reports said  Pakistan troops violated ceasefire once again, injuring four people in RS Pura sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan also fired for about an hour and a half on five  BSF posts.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar discussed the situation at the border.

Earlier on the day, Pakistan summoned the Indian envoy this morning and lodged a protest after saying it had shot down an Indian "spy" drone, a claim that has been denied by New Delhi.

Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aijaz Ahmed Chaudhary protested against "cross-border firing by India" and also claimed that an Indian spy plane had been shot down for violation of "Pakistan's territorial integrity"

The Guardian quoted the Pakistan government as saying that four civilians have been killed and five wounded in artillery fire that struck villages near the border with India.

The shelling occurred in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir and the border villages near the eastern Pakistani city of Sialkot, a Pakistani army statement said.

The Pakistan's claim came a day after India lodged a strong protest against repeated ceasefire violations.

On Wednesday, one woman was killed and six others, including two BSF jawans, were injured in a ceasefire violation in Akhnoor.

  High Commissioner TCA Raghavan denied that the drone was Indian, and asserted that it was Pakistan that fired first at the border.
The Pakistan army alleges that India was using the drone for aerial photography near the Line of Control and it was shot down in the Bhimber area of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir for "violation of Pakistan's territorial integrity."

Indian government sources called it a "strange coincidence that Pakistan claimed it shot down an Indian drone soon after the violation" on Wednesday.

Last week, PM Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif held talks on the sidelines of a regional conference in Ufa in Russia. As part of breakthrough announcements after the talks, the two countries decided to arrange meetings of senior military officials to reduce tension along the border.