Amid rising tension between India and Pakistan, police in India's northern province of Punjab have taken a pigeon into custody after the bird was found carrying a threatening note against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India's paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) officers found the bird at Pathankot, which is close to heavily guarded India-Pakistan border.

"We took it into custody last evening," Pathankot police inspector Rakesh Kumar told AFP.

"The BSF found it with a note in Urdu saying something like 'Modi, we're not the same people from 1971. Now each and every child is ready to fight against India."

India and Pakistan fought their third, and last, full-blown war in 1971. It appears that the note was signed by the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

"So we are investigating the matter very seriously," added Kumar.

The bird was also X-rayed to see if it was carrying a spy camera, transmitter or hidden chip. 

According to the police, the message was signed by the militant group responsible for recent deadly attacks on Indian military bases. Tensions between the long-time rivals have been escalating since a militant attack at Uri army base in disputed region of Kashmir in which 19 Indian soldiers were killed.

To avenge the killing of its soldiers, India recently claimed that it has conducted surgical strike along the defacto India-Pakistan border. 

Meanwhile, the Pakistan government and army have repeatedly dismissed claims that India's military conducted surgical strikes on its side of the border in Kashmir region.

The fresh tension between the two countries comes at a time when the Narendra Modi government in India has been struggling to contain protests on the streets of disputed Kashmir, where more than 100 civilians have been killed and thousands wounded in the last 10 weeks after a young separatist militant was killed by Indian security forces.