State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said that just because the US does not like the Israeli fence on the West Bank does not mean that all fences like the Indian fence along the Indo-Pak border are "bad".

"I guess I have to reject the contention that it (the Indian fence) is just like (the Israeli fence) in the Middle East. I think these are two different fences. There are a lot of fences along borders around the world," Boucher said at a regular briefing when asked about his stand on India building a fence along the border vis-a-vis the fence Israel is building.

"The issue with the fence that Israel is putting up.... Is because building this fence involves taking land; it prejudices or might be seen to prejudice the outcome of future discussions; and it basically complicates the situation of trying to achieve progress that can result in real security for both sides through cooperation and through shared security, through each side taking its responsibilities.

"And that is why we've made clear that we think this particular fence (Israeli fence) is a problem. It does not mean fences are bad all over the world."

Asked on which side of the fence he is on, he said, "We are not taking a position on the fence".

On the US stand on cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, Boucher said: "I think on cross-border terrorism, it remains a very important issue to us. It remains one that we follow very closely and we continue to discuss with the parties because we do think it is important to stop the terrorism in this area and stop the camps, and to make sure that nobody's territory is being used as a place to sponsor terrorism against its neighbours."

Asked if the US could at least push the Indians to place the UN observer group on their side for an objective assessment, Boucher said Washington has supported the UN Security Council resolution on this subject in the past.

"But the US position and the US effort has been, first, to work with both India and Pakistan to develop our own relationships.... These are two relationships, each of which is very important to us".

On that basis, he said, "We have also been looking to see what we could do to help them resolve the problems between them and to help them move to a point where they can deal more specifically with some of these issues as part of the overall effort to get them to improve their relationships".

"That is where we have put our effort into, and that is where we continue to put our effort," he added.

PTI from New Delhi reports: Indian and Pakistani troops on Thursday exchanged heavy shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Noushera sector of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources here said.

Indian troops retaliated the Pakistani firing targeted at Jhanghar, Kalal, Rumlidhara and Kalsian areas of the sector from across the border with mortar bombs from 0300 hours to 0700 hours, the sources said.

No loss of life or property was reported in the shelling, they said, adding the damage on Pakistani side could not be ascertained.

The sources attributed the increased firing and shelling in Noushera sector to facilitate armed terrorists to infiltrate into Indian territory, they said.

Reports from International Border (IB) in Jammu said that light arms firing between two sides took place at Jabowal and Chambliyal areas during the last 24 hours. There was no casualties in our side, they added.