Exchanges of mortar fire on the India/Pakistan border and claim and counter claim that a military plane had been shot down formed the backdrop to a brief meeting between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today.
In Kathmandu, at the end of a seven-nation South Asian summit, the leaders held a 15-minute - but apparently fruitless - one-on-one meeting.
"There were exchanges of courtesies, nothing more," Mr Vajpayee told reporters. "The talks have stopped now, but they will take place in the future," he added.
Despite the brief nature of the meeting the tentatively positive remarks by Mr Vajpayee were reflected by Gen Musharraf: "They [the tensions] may not have been eased, but they haven't worsened," he said.
"We had an informal interaction and we look forward to formalising the interaction in the future," he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan dismissed an Indian army report that its forces had shot down an unmanned Pakistani spy plane, saying the Indians had lost a remote-control spy aircraft of their own.
"This propaganda is totally baseless and concocted," Pakistani army spokesman Brigadier Saulat Raza said.
"Actually they themselves have lost one remotely piloted vehicle. We haven't lost any aircraft, neither have we violated Indian-held airspace," he said.
"They lost one and just to cover it up they said we did it."
Brigadier Saulat said the Indian aircraft had come down in Indian-held territory in the Jammu sector of the Himalayan region of Kashmir.
Earlier, there were reports of mortar fire in which at least one person was killed three others were wounded in the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Pakistan says the Indian army fired mortars and shells in the southern Rawalkot sector.
AFP, PA &