NEW DELHI: Two armed militants attacked a police station in Indian Kashmir on Monday, police said, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his annual Independence Day speech in the national capital, New Delhi.

The gunmen were unable to take control of the police station in the old city of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir, but did wound six police reservists in the attack.

Operations were continuing against the attackers, who were holed up in a nearby building, police said. No further details were immediately available and there was no claim of responsibility.

Separately, the Indian Army said it had foiled an attempt to infiltrate two militants from Pakistan into India. The two men were killed in the Uri sector of the de facto border between the neighbouring countries in North Kashmir.

Kashmir has witnessed violent protests since the July 8 killing of militant leader Burhan Wani, a commander of the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Hizbul Mujahideen, with 54 people killed and several thousand wounded in clashes with security forces.

Modi avoided direct reference to Kashmir in his Independence Day speech, but he did criticise people in Pakistan for celebrating when what he called terrorist attacks were launched on Indian soil.

The prime minister met national party leaders on Friday to seek ways to end the worst unrest in Kashmir since 2010, but there was no agreement to send an all-party delegation to the region for talks to try and calm tensions there.

Both India and Pakistan rule Kashmir in part but claim it in full. The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two of their three wars since independence 69 years ago over the Muslim-majority region where the Line of Control, or de facto border, still runs roughly where the guns fell silent in 1948.

Attacks by suspected rebels wound 7 troops in India

SRINAGAR: At least seven paramilitary troops were wounded, three critically, after suspected rebels sprayed them with gunfire in the main city of troubled Indian Kashmir on Monday, officials said.

KK Sharma, a top official of the Central Reserve Paramilitary Force, said the attacks came as India celebrated the anniversary of its independence from Britain.

The first attack took place in Srinagar's Nowhatta neighborhood when suspected rebels attacked troops on patrol to enforce a curfew. Sharma said a gunbattle with rebels was ongoing.

The second attack, similar in nature, took place in the Khanyar neighborhood.

The Himalayan region has been under curfew for almost six weeks since angry street protests broke out after Indian troops killed an iconic rebel leader in a gunbattle.

The attacks come a day after Pakistan celebrated its Independence Day and tens of thousands of residents rallied in Indian Kashmir and hoisted Pakistani flags and chanted "Long Live Pakistan" and "Go India, go back."

At least 40 people were injured in clashes between rock-throwing protesters and government forces who fired shotgun pellets and tear gas in many places across the region, officials said.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed in its entirety by both.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training Kashmiri rebels who have been fighting for independence or for a merger with Pakistan since 1989. Pakistan denies the charge, saying it provides only moral and political support.

More than 68,000 people have been killed since rebel groups began fighting Indian forces in 1989 and in a subsequent Indian military crackdown.