Kashmir attack: India 'launches strikes against militants'

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend a regional summit of South Asian leaders in Pakistan in November because of increasing cross-border attacks in the region, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

India blames Pakistan for a deadly assault on an army base in the disputed region of Kashmir this month that has escalated tensions between the rivals.

India says a group of militants crossed the de facto border that separates the countries and killed 18 soldiers on Sept. 18, the biggest loss of life for Indian security forces in the region for 14 years.

Pakistan rejects the accusation and says India needs to conduct a proper investigation before it apportions blame.

Modi was scheduled to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Islamabad, which brings together eight member states in the region.

"India has conveyed to current SAARC Chair Nepal that increasing cross-border terrorist attacks in the region...have created an environment that is not conducive to the successful holding of the 19th SAARC Summit," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"In the prevailing circumstances, the Government of India is umable to participate in the proposed summit in Islamabad."

India's army says it has carried out "surgical strikes" against suspected militants along the de-facto border with Pakistan in Kashmir.

The operation was aimed at preventing attacks being planned by Pakistan-based militants, a senior army official said.

He said "significant casualties have been caused to the terrorists and those who are trying to support them".

Pakistan denies India carried out any strikes and says two of its soldiers were killed in cross-border shelling.

"The notion of surgical strike linked to alleged terrorists' bases is an illusion being deliberately generated by India to create false effects," the Pakistani military said in a statement.

Pakistan said its soldiers died in "unprovoked" firing along the Line of Control dividing the disputed region.

A territorial dispute between the two countries over Muslim-majority Kashmir has been running for decades, but tensions flared earlier this month after a militant attack on an Indian army base in Kashmir left 18 soldiers dead.

India blamed the attack on Pakistan, which denied the claim.