Posted on 10/24/2002 5:12:31 PM PDT by knighthawk
NEW DELHI, India (AP) — India has started withdrawing its troops from the border with Pakistan, the defense minister said Thursday.
``The process has started,'' George Fernandes said of New Delhi's announcement earlier this month that it would recall tens of thousands of soldiers from the border to ease tension in the region.
India and Pakistan have deployed more than 1 million soldiers along their frontier since a Dec. 13 attack on the Indian Parliament, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based Islamic groups and Islamabad's spy agency.
Pakistan rejected the allegation, but attacks in India's Jammu-Kashmir state again pushed the two countries to the brink of a war in May. That threat was averted after diplomatic efforts by the United States and Britain.
Islamabad has promised it will also withdraw troops, but has not said when its redeployment will start.
Fernandes did not give the number of soldiers being pulled back, but said their relocation would be completed in two months.
``I would like to see all our soldiers returning home to celebrate the festival of Diwali, but that is not going to be possible,'' the defense minister said.
The South Asian nuclear rivals share a 1,800-mile border, part of which is called the Line of Control, which divides disputed Kashmir. India has said its troops will remain along the Line of Control.
The two nations have fought two of their three wars over control of the Himalayan territory.
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