India claims helicopters were fired on

India accused Pakistan of firing at Indian military helicopters yesterday, a day after a Pakistani naval surveillance plane was shot down by the Indian Air Force along the border between the two countries by the Arabian Sea.

According to the Indian Defence Ministry, the surface-to-air missile was fired at three helicopters, escorted by two MiG 21 fighters, taking journalists to the wreckage site of the Pakistani aircraft downed in western Gujarat state yesterday.

Officials said none of the helicopters was hit. The helicopters and fighters later returned to the Nalya air base without visiting the wreckage site.

Pakistan, however, claimed to have fired several missiles on Indian jet fighters attempting to intrude into its airspace, but denied firing at the helicopters. "Two Indian jet fighters tried to enter the area but were forced to run after we fired at them," a military spokesman, Brig Rashid Qureshi, said in Islamabad.

He denied Indian claims that the Pakistani surveillance aircraft shot down by India, killing all 16 personnel aboard, had strayed across the border. The Pakistani Foreign Minister, Mr Sartaj Aziz, said the aircraft was on a routine training mission and accused India of "cold-blooded murder".

India, meanwhile, admitted that the "bulk" of the enemy aircraft wreckage had landed in Pakistan, but insisted it was shot down only after it violated its air space.

Air Chief Marshal Anil Yash want Tipnis said though a large portion of the downed surveillance aircraft lay inside Pakistan, "incontrovertible" radar evidence indicated it had strayed at least 10 km inside Indian territory before being brought down. He said the surveillance aircraft was shot down only after it refused to respond when challenged.

After being hit the aircraft headed for the Pakistani border, he said, crashing about 1 km inside it with the wreckage spread on either side of the border.

Salvaged parts of what India claimed was the main body of the wreckage were displayed yesterday at the office of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, in New Delhi.

AFP adds: US State Department spokesman, Mr James Rubin, said yesterday that "it's hard to be optimistic at this stage" about the crisis. "If anything, today's events are an indication that we're going in the wrong direction. Both sides continue to blame the other," he added.