WASHINGTON: The United States Tuesday expressed hope that Pakistan and India would continue their recent peace efforts towards normalisation of relations despite Indian allegations of firing from the Pakistani side in Kashmir, reports the State Department has described as unconfirmed.

India lodged a diplomatic protest earlier on Tuesday with Pakistan over an alleged attack on an army post in the disputed Kashmir region in which it said five of its soldiers were killed.

“We are aware of these unconfirmed reports and are concerned about any violence along the Line of Control,” Spokesperson Jen Psaki said at the daily briefing when asked about Indian claims of deaths of five of its soldiers in alleged firing from the Pakistani side.

She said Washington's policy on the longstanding Kashmir dispute has not changed.

“We still believe that the pace, scope and the character of India and Pakistan's dialogue on Kashmir is for those two countries to determine,” the spokesperson added.

“We hope that India and Pakistan will continue the steps they have taken recently to improve their bilateral relations.”

Meanwhile, a senior Pakistani military official has accused India of firing shots that seriously injured two Pakistani soldiers.

“Two Pakistan army soldiers were seriously injured due to unprovoked Indian firing on the Line of Control (LoC) near Muzaffarabad on Tuesday afternoon,” the official said.