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To Ease Pakistan Tension
10-16-2
| NEW DELHI (Reuters) -
India announced a limited withdrawal of troops from its border with Pakistan
Wednesday, a move analysts said could help defuse a stand-off between the
two nuclear powers. But forces would not be reduced in disputed Jammu and Kashmir state, Defense Minister George Fernandes told reporters after a meeting of the cabinet's security committee. "The (committee) ... has decided that as the armed forces have, with great distinction, achieved the objectives assigned to them ... they (will) now be asked to re-deploy from positions on the international border with Pakistan, without impairing their capacity to respond decisively to any emergency," he said. "There will be no lowering of the vigil in Jammu and Kashmir," he added, giving no indication of the scale or timing of the withdrawal. Analysts say the pull-back could pave the way for peace talks before the end of the year between the neighbors who came close to war in June over Kashmir, where a dispute has poisoned relations since independence from Britain in 1947. In Islamabad, a Pakistani official said the government would not comment until it had examined India's announcement. NO IMMEDIATE TALKS Fernandes ruled out early talks. "There is no question of dialogue with Pakistan as long as Pakistani terrorism continues," he said. India accuses Muslim Pakistan of promoting what it calls cross-border terrorism by helping militants cross into Indian Kashmir to join a revolt by Muslim separatists. Islamabad denies the charge. India and Pakistan have massed a million men along their border since December in the latest confrontation over Kashmir, the trigger of two of their three wars since independence. They have come under intense international pressure to take steps to ease tension and begin talks to end the crisis which erupted over a raid on India's parliament that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based Kashmiri separatists. Pakistan has repeatedly called for an end to the deployment. "It would indicate that the military option is totally out of the arena and, number two, that it should be read as a signal of de-escalation by the other side," Indian defense analyst Ashok Mehta told Reuters. "It should be read as a sign of de-escalation which could lead to official talks, as early as next month," Mehta added. But Pakistani analysts said negotiations should not be expected to be quick or smooth. "This should be a starting point for a long process of dialogue," said Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general. Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani has said Pakistan's election last week strengthened the hands of the army and extremist groups there, "so our worries about cross-border terrorism have deepened." Pakistan was taken by surprise by the resurgent religious right in the election and its likely impact on foreign policy issues, including the U.S. war on terror and the Kashmir crisis, is unclear. INDIA HOPEFUL An election last week in Indian Kashmir routed the ruling National Conference. Analysts say that opens the door for moves to bring peace to the contested Himalayan region, where more than 35,000 people have died over the past 13 years. India hopes a new government in its only Muslim-majority state will erode support for revolt against its rule by engaging many Kashmiris who had previously felt marginalized. Pakistan has rejected the poll as a farce. Uday Bhaskar, an analyst at India's Institute of Defense Studies and Analysis, also said the approach of winter would freeze up Himalayan frontier passes and make it harder for guerrillas to cross, giving India some leeway to ease its deployment. |
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