ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to convene a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) in the wake of ongoing firing at the Line of Control (LoC) and the working boundary dividing Pakistan and India.

The meeting is scheduled to be held at 10 am Friday, October 10.

“The committee is expected to meet this week in Islamabad with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the chair," a top government official told Dawn on Wednesday.

Along with the top military leadership, the PM’s adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz, Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Information Minister Pervez Rashid will attend the meeting on Friday.

Also read: Three killed in firing along India-Pakistan border

The military leadership will take the committee into confidence over the latest situation on the Line of Control and the working boundary, and a joint strategy would be adopted which may give a strong message to India, said the sources.

The meeting follows a rise in tensions across the Pakistan-India border, with as many as 10 civilians killed and over a dozen injured in the past three days in cross-border firing on both sides of the border.

An intense bout of firing by Indian troops continued near Sialkot late Tuesday, killing at least three Pakistani civilians and damaging buildings and houses located along the working boundary.

In pictures: Civilians suffer as firing continues across Indo-Pak border