India said its troops responded to firing from Pakistan military positions in the Jammu and Kashmir region for a second day on Saturday, as tensions remained escalated between the neighbors following a deadly attack on tourists this week.

Both sides used small arms and there were no casualties in the gun battle along the border, Indian defense ministry officials said, asking not be named because of the sensitivity of the situation. A security official from Pakistan denied the incident while its foreign ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment outside of regular business hours.

As many as 26 tourists were shot dead by gunmen — one of the worst ever attacks on civilians in recent times — in the restive region of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday. India accused Pakistan of involvement in the attack, and on Wednesday announced punitive measures against its South Asian neighbor, including downgrading diplomatic ties and suspending a crucial water-sharing treaty.

Pakistan has denied the charge and retaliated by expelling Indian diplomats, closing its airspace to Indian-owned and operated airlines, and halting the limited trade between the two nations.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at a military event in Abbottabad on Saturday that Pakistan was “open to participating in any neutral, transparent and credible investigation” into the attack.

“Peace is our preference but must not be construed as our weakness,” he said in a televised speech.

The nuclear armed South Asian neighbors have had difficult relations for decades centering around the control of the border region of Kashmir, an area in the Himalayas claimed in full — and ruled in part — by both. New Delhi, for long, has been frustrated by what it sees as the Pakistan military’s support for terror groups that strike inside its territory.

(Kamran Haider contributed to this report.)

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