The exchange of fire came after a deadly attack took the lives of 26 people in what India claims was a Pakistan-backed "terror attack".

SRINAGAR (Reuters) - Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged gunfire for a second straight day on Saturday as ties plummeted between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after an attack on tourists blamed on Pakistani militants killed 26 in India's Kashmir region.

Indian officials said the army had a brief exchange of fire with Pakistani soldiers along their highly militarized frontier in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, as the nuclear-armed rivals ramped up tit-for-tat diplomatic offensive following a deadly attack on tourists in the disputed area.