Pakistan to withdraw troops to ‘peacetime locations’
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistan matched rival India in pledging to withdraw hundreds of thousands of troops from their border Thursday, beginning a mutual stand-down after months of heightened tension that brought the South Asian nuclear neighbors to the brink of war. The government said soldiers would be pulled back to “peacetime locations,” and that the withdrawal would begin soon.
The moves were welcomed in Washington, which considers both countries allies and has sent top diplomats to the region to try to defuse the situation.
More than 1 million troops are faced off along the 1,800-mile border, and the two countries nearly went to war in June, raising fears that a conflict between the nuclear-armed foes could spiral out of control.
The Foreign Ministry said the decision was made after a top-level meeting chaired by President Pervez Musharraf.
“The government of Pakistan has decided to withdraw its forces from the Pakistan-India border to their peacetime locations,” the Foreign Ministry said.
“The pullback will commence shortly.”
A senior Pakistani defense official said the armed forces would withdraw 90 percent of the troops, including naval and air forces. He said the pullback would occur in phases, the speed of which depended on the progress of India’s withdrawal.
The official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the army had sent 400,000 to 500,000 troops to the border, “but now we will be withdrawing them.”
“It’s welcome news,” said U.S. Embassy spokesman Terry White.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher warmly welcomed the mutual troop pullback announcements.
“We urge both countries to continue these steps to reduce the threat of conflict and create an atmosphere allowing the resumption of dialogue,” Boucher said. He said Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed the matter Thursday with Musharraf and Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha.
However, a spokesman for India’s Foreign Ministry, Navtej Sarna, said Pakistan’s decision was not enough to lead to formal dialogue.
“What is needed to start a dialogue with Pakistan is a complete and visible end to cross-border terrorism and we have seen no change in this,” Sarna said. India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring attacks by Islamic militant groups, a charge Pakistan denies.
India said Wednesday it would withdraw tens of thousands of its troops from the border with Pakistan, but none from the Line of Control, which separates the disputed region of Kashmir, site of frequent armed clashes.
On Thursday, the two sides traded artillery fire in Forward Kahutta, a town in Bagh district near the frontier, according to police officials. There were no casualties or damages in the hour-long skirmish.
Earlier this month, Pakistan and India conducted tit-for-tat tests of medium-range nuclear-capable missiles, renewing fears of an arms race and underscoring the high stakes in the dispute.
A senior Pakistani defense analyst said both sides were looking to ease tensions, in part because of the difficulty of keeping their armies on high alert for such a long time.
“I think the Indians were looking for an opportunity to withdraw troops because they have been there for the last 10 months,” retired Gen. Talat Masood said. “It is a good and positive development.”
The South Asian rivals have fought two wars for control of the lush, Himalayan province of Kashmir. At least 61,000 people have died in the last 12 years in an insurgency by more than a dozen Islamic groups fighting for secession from India or a merger with Pakistan.
Tension between India and Pakistan has been high since a Dec. 13 attack on the Indian Parliament, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based Islamic groups and Islamabad’s spy agency, a charge Pakistan also denies. More rebel attacks in Kashmir pushed the two countries close to all-out conflict in June before the United States, Britain and Russia mounted a diplomatic campaign to curb the hostilities.
The Foreign Ministry statement followed an earlier one Thursday that called India’s move a “step in the right direction.” But that statement made no specific pledge to reciprocate the pullback.
“Pakistan has always stood for normal relations with India,” the earlier statement said. “Pakistan has consistently called for de-escalation, withdrawal by India of its forces to peacetime locations and the resumption of dialogue.”
India’s announcement on Wednesday followed lobbying by European Union leaders, who pressed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to move toward dialogue with Pakistan. In announcing the troop pullback, however, Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes ruled out any new talks.
Fernandes said the Indian army will decide when to move the soldiers and where they will go. Indian military officers are known to favor an easing of their nation’s war readiness.