Pakistan 'downs Indian spy plane'

Diplomats were recently expelled from each country

Pakistan says it has shot down an unmanned Indian spy plane.

Pakistani troops took appropriate measures which forced the Indian RPVs to abandon their spying mission

Pakistani military statement

A military statement said the plane - a Remote Piloted Vehicle (RPV) - had been brought down over Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

It said it was one of two which had crossed over into Pakistani territory in the Shingu and Hajji Pir sectors in the last 48 hours.

It said Pakistani forces took appropriate measures forcing the planes to abandon their "spying mission."

One plane was seen to fall in flames - although it is not clear if it fell on Pakistani or Indian-held territory.

An Indian spokesman in Delhi has denied the Pakistani claims.

Rising tensions

The Pakistani statement said the two aircraft has crossed two and six kilometres respectively into Pakistani territory.

It also said there had been more than 200 similar violations last year.

India uses the planes to track militant incursions

PK Bandyapadhay, a spokesman for the ministry of defence in Delhi, told the BBC no Indian unmanned aircraft had been lost.

"If the [Pakistani] claims are right, where is the wreckage?" he asked.

India uses the planes to monitor what it says are incursions by Pakistani-backed militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, which it says have been increasing in recent months.

President Musharraf promised last year to clamp down on the activities of such militants.

But tension has recently risen between the two countries.

Expulsions

Last week, they carried out tit-for-tat expulsions of officials after complaints from each side that the other was harassing its diplomats.

There have also been heavier exchanges of fire across the Line of Control in Kashmir.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf told visiting Indian politicians on Tuesday that he wanted a peaceful resolution of disputes with India.

He also referred to recent statements from India against Pakistan, and stressed the need "for a greater display of responsibility."

The two nuclear-capable neighbours came close to war after an attack by suspected Kashmir militants on the Indian parliament in 2001.

Tension only subsided after the US and others intervened to avert a possible conflict.