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There is no let up in exchange of firing between the Pakistan and Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC), which divides the two countries in the disputed Kashmir region, as the Pakistan military on Monday accused Indian forces of killing a citizen in the latest incident of firing.

Pakistan and India declared a ceasefire along the LoC in 2003 and guns have been relatively silent since then. However, escalations were witnessed in January this year when both countries accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

Both countries have lost several soldiers and civilians over the past few months and the incidents have caused diplomatic tensions between the two uneasy neighbours. Foreign ministries and the militaries of the two countries are now routinely exchange harsh statements that could further increase mistrust. The LoC escalations caused serious concerns in Pakistan. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif convened a high level urgent meeting at the Foreign Ministry last week and expressed shock at the "exchange of firing between the Pakistani and Indian troops which has resulted into flaring up of tensions and loss of precious human lives."

Nawaz Sharif told the meeting that it is incumbent upon the leadership of both sides not to allow the situation to drift and to take steps to improve the atmosphere by engaging constructively with a view to building trust and confidence.

Realizing sensitivity of the situation, Sharif also stressed that both India and Pakistan must take effective steps to ensure and restore ceasefire on the LoC. He emphasized that the existing military to military channels could be more optimally utilized to prevent misunderstanding and not allow situation to escalate.

In India, the top leadership also wants to continue the dialogue process with Pakistan. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said that the tensions would not affect the upcoming summit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Nawaz Sharif.

Both prime ministers are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next month. However, the ongoing escalations have overshadowed the meeting.

Officials in both countries insist that Sharif-Singh summit will be held as per schedule that keeps hopes alive for the high level contacts and bilateral talks.

The civilian and military leaders should use their specific channels to avoid further escalations as any such development is not in the interest of both countries. It took years that the two countries started dialogue after the 2008 Mumbai attacks that had almost brought the two countries to the edge of another war.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared to normalize relations with India days after his party won the May 11 elections. He had also committed improved ties with India during election campaign of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Indian leaders attached hopes to Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited him to visit India in his first telephonic talk on the day PML-N won the elections.

Singh then sent his special envoy Satinder K. Lambah who met Mr. Sharif and "conveyed Singh's greetings and good wishes to Nawaz Sharif for his tenure as prime minister of Pakistan."

They took the opportunity to discuss ways to take the dialogue process forward to address all issues of concern of the two countries and to advance peace, friendship and cooperation between the two South Asian neighbours.

Nawaz Sharif said last month that Pakistan has also revived the back channel diplomacy to improve ties with India and the resumption of the dialogue process.

He has appointed former Foreign Secretary Shahryar Khan to lead "Track II diplomacy" and hold talks with Indian officials to prepare the ground for resolving outstanding issues.

Khan has already visited India, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and delivered special message from Nawaz Sharif.

Pakistan Foreign Ministry said that the government had proposed dates for the next round of official talks. India has not yet responded to the proposed dates. Endi

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