The Ministry of Home Affairs said the directive followed a high-level video conference chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, instructing state governments to enforce the move.

An attack on tourists in India's Himalayan territory of Kashmir this week sparked a new crisis between nuclear armed South Asian neighbours India and Pakistan, with New Delhi blaming militants with "cross-border linkages" for the killings.

With tensions heightened between India and Pakistan in the wake of attack on tourists in Pahalgam, the Pakistan army on Friday initiated firing of small arms in some places along the Line of Control (LoC), sources in the know said, adding that the Indian Army responded effectively, and no casualties had been reported.