India on Friday rejected calls by Pakistan to hold talks to end their dangerous military stand-off after troops traded heavy fire across the disputed region of Kashmir.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who has ordered the biggest military build-up on the border since the last war with Pakistan in 1971, said talks with its neighbor had proved futile in the past.

"They (Pakistan) keep saying the leaders of the two countries should meet. Meet for what? Do we meet for discussing the weather or some business?" he said in a speech at a party conference.

Vajpayee's remarks came as troops exchanged mortar and heavy machine gun fire at several points along the control line that divides Kashmir between the nuclear rivals.

An Indian defense official said three civilians, including a four-year-old child, had died in Poonch district in overnight cross-border firing by Pakistani soldiers.

"Stocks of fodder of some border families in the area caught fire due to enemy mortar fire," he added.

Across the frontier in Pakistan, a soldier was killed by Indian machine gun fire near the border town of Sialkot, witnesses and military officials said. The firing had started late on Thursday and continued through to Friday morning.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said he hoped to hold talks with Indian national security adviser Brajesh Mishra during a conference in Munich at the weekend.

"Our goal really is to revive, recommence and strengthen dialogue with India in order to peacefully resolve Kashmir and other issues," Sattar said.

Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes said Pakistani troops continued to fire across the border to provide cover for Islamic militants sneaking into Indian-administered Kashmir.

"There is no other reason (for the firing) unless they have ammunition which they want to burn. Knowing their financial situation, they are not in a position to burn ammunition," the United News of India quoted him as saying in New Delhi.

Fernandes said there had been a slight fall in the number of rebels crossing into Indian Kashmir, but

added it was not significant and New Delhi would not withdraw its troops from the border until infiltration ended fully, UNI said.

Indian officials and military analysts also point out that numbers traditionally drop off at this time of year when winter snows close mountain passes and make conditions harsh.

Fifteen people including three children, died in separate incidents of violence elsewhere in Indian Kashmir over the past day. Police said three children had died on Thursday playing with a grenade they found in a meadow in Udhampur district.

An activist of the pro-India People's Democratic Party was among those killed by suspected guerrillas along with his bodyguard in Baramulla district.

Four militants of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of the two separatist groups blamed by India for the December 13 attacks on its parliament, were shot dead by security forces at Surankote in the state's Poonch district, UNI said.