India withdraws 15,000 troops from Kashmir as a peace gesture

[Ruag]

JAMMU, India (Reuters) - India is withdrawing about 15,000 soldiers from Jammu and Kashmir, a military official said Thursday, in a move aimed at boosting prospects of peace talks with the disputed region's separatist groups.

India has been under international pressure in recent months to reduce tensions along its Pakistan border particularly Kashmir so that Islamabad could focus on fighting the Taliban on its western border with Afghanistan.

But military analysts said the slight thinning of troops in the Jammu region was linked with ongoing efforts to resume talks with Kashmir's separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference rather than extending an olive branch to Pakistan.

Kashmiri separatists urged New Delhi to pull out troops, release prisoners and end alleged human rights violations after the Indian government offered to resume talks this month to end a two-decade insurgency.

A military spokesman said one army division was being moved in a phased manner since September from the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch because of improvement in the security situation. It wasn't clear if these were troops deployed on the border or on internal security duties.

"The readjustment and relocation of troops is subject to security reviews and periodic assessment of ground situation," Lt. Col. Biplab Nath said.

The troops who are being moved out are in the Jammu region and not the Kashmir Valley which is the centre of the revolt.

Violence is now at its lowest in Kashmir since a separatist insurgency against Indian rule in the region broke out in 1989, but officials say incidents of "infiltration" of militants from Pakistan have risen over the past few months.

Ashok Mehta, a retired army general and New Delhi-based strategic analyst, said the removal of troops was a goodwill gesture aimed at Kashmiri groups.

"The current de-induction of troops has nothing to do with the Afghanistan war," he said.

The announcement of the troop movement came as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is touring Kashmir said the security of the disputed region must rest in the hands of police.

"The responsibility for maintaining law and order in the state will be increasingly devolved on the Jammu and Kashmir police," he said.

India moved about 4,000 soldiers from its Pakistan border in Kashmir in March. There are an estimated half a million Indian security personnel, including soldiers, deployed in Kashmir.

"Deployment and redeployment is based on threat perceptions and this particular army division has moved out as the situation is better," said Col S. Om Singh, another army spokesman.

A faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference began a dialogue with the government in 2004, the first since the beginning of the insurgency, but it broke down two years later.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/29/world/international-uk-kashmir-army.html

 

[PlanetWarrior]

Hopefully India and Pakistan can reach some agreement to scale down the number of troops they have stationed on their borders soon. Emphasis should turn to trade and negotiations and not military solutions once Pakistan has eradicated the Taliban from its territory

 

[DaRk WaVe]

Ahem Ahem

Well, may be a Good Move...

 

[Solomon2]

Perhaps the Indians are finally convinced that the current Pakistani gov't isn't currently supporting terrorist infiltrators into its territory, so troop strength can be cut back somewhat.

Or maybe, since 15,000 troops is just a finger's worth, they're just being rotated.

 

[PlanetWarrior]

Ahem Ahem

Well, may be a Good Move...

Perhaps India is starting to feel safer now that the PDF is eating Taliban curry for lunch

 

[DaRk WaVe]

India moves troops from Kashmir as talks loom


JAMMU: India is withdrawing about 15,000 soldiers from Kashmir in a confidence-building move with the region’s separatist political groups as it seeks to restart negotiations to help end a two-decade insurgency.

Kashmiri separatist groups urged New Delhi to pull out troops, release prisoners and end alleged human rights violations after the Indian government offered talks this month.

A military spokesman said one army division was being moved in a phased manner since September from the districts of Rajouri and Poonch because of improvements in the security situation.

‘The readjustment and relocation of troops is subject to security reviews and periodic assessment of ground situation,’ Lt. Col. Biplab Nath said.

Violence is now at its lowest in Kashmir since a separatist insurgency against Indian rule in the region broke out in 1989, but officials say incidents of ‘infiltration’ of militants from Pakistan have risen over the past few months.

India moved about 4,000 soldiers from its Pakistan border in Kashmir in March. There are an estimated half a million Indian security personnel, including soldiers, deployed in Kashmir.

DAWN.COM | World | India moves troops from Kashmir as talks loom

 

[absarahmedkhan]

India should stop funding its terrorists -- the RaW Agents -- inside Pakistan. And Pakistan should do the same when it comes to the ISI's mischief-making. Then both countries could further think about some PEACE.

 

[New Shivaji]

Good move by GOI . If this is an indication of lessened terrorist activity then its great for all the people in the region.

 

[rajeev]

I am sorry guys but I feel it is a dumb move. Two primary reasons:

1. PA is not in power.
2. Elected officials not popular in Pakistan.

We are only going to have another Kargil or another attack. Why cant we learn anything from past experiences?

"Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."

 

[Spring Onion]

Are they moved out of Held Kashmir to India or they just been relocated ?


BTW with Ms Clinton here in the region we can understand why India is playing this card as well statment that India is ready to talk to Pakistan

 

[PlanetWarrior]

Are they moved out of Held Kashmir to India or they just been relocated ?


BTW with Ms Clinton here in the region we can understand why India is playing this card as well statment that India is ready to talk to Pakistan

Oh dear Jana again. Even if India moved all its troops out of Kashmir you will question India's motives. If you read the article it does say withraw and that does mean "removed"

And since when did Bill's wife determine Indian policy?

 

[deckingraj]

Are they moved out of Held Kashmir to India or they just been relocated ?


BTW with Ms Clinton here in the region we can understand why India is playing this card as well statment that India is ready to talk to Pakistan

Jana...Do you really mean it or kind of returning the favor of some senseless post by indians against Pakistan in some other threads??? Do you know how hard Omar Abdullah(Current CM of J&K) has lobbied for this gesture...Kindly give some credit to the man for his work as well...anyways just to inform you that GOI is mulling over reducing role of para military forces in the valley from quite some time...The idea is to reduce their role only for sealing and protecting the border(LOC) and state police take over law and order completely...However it would take time since one has raise Police personel numbers and level of training to suit valley needs....

Also if not this what else were you expecting from the PM visit?? Would love to hear your thoughts...

Food for thought any particular reason why PM did not made such gesture to impress Hilary Clinto when she visited india???

 

[Ingis]

I am sorry guys but I feel it is a dumb move. Two primary reasons:

1. PA is not in power.
2. Elected officials not popular in Pakistan.

We are only going to have another Kargil or another attack. Why cant we learn anything from past experiences?

"Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."

Firstly, these troops were moved out of Kashmir not to pacify Pakistan but to cool down the tempers of some Kashmiri parties, especially Hurriyat.

Secondly, there are 500,000 Indian security personnel in Kashmir and 15,000 is just 3% of that number. So, India has plenty of troops there to patrol the borders and kick some terrorist butt.

Thirdly, the Government of India very well knows that there is no point in appeasing Pakistan. No matter what India does, Pakistan will never change its true intentions. Even if India completely vacates Kashmir, Pakistan will still look for reasons to continue its enmity with India.

Therefore, this troop move decision was targeted at Kashmiris, not Pakistanis.

 

[deckingraj]

^^^^^^^^

To add on to what ingis is saying...the idea behind it is to remove para military forces from valley eventually and reduce their role only for sealing LOC...This step should be seen as a confidence building measure and not appeasing pakistan..If we wanted to appease pakistan there are many ways..starting composite dialogue is one of them...

The logic should be seen from the threat perception in the valley.. Terrorists attacks have declined considerably thus do we really need these many security personnels in the valley ..and if we can why not reduce their number/presence to appease our people(Kashmiris)...If you look from the bigger picture the idea is to recruit and train police personnels to take over law and order completely and leave only LOC worries with Army...

 

[rajeev]

The logic should be seen from the threat perception in the valley.. Terrorists attacks have declined considerably thus do we really need these many security personnel in the valley ..and if we can why not reduce their number/presence to appease our people(Kashmiris)...If you look from the bigger picture the idea is to recruit and train police personnels to take over law and order completely and leave only LOC worries with Army...

Threat perception have reduced because the strategic assets of Pakistan who wanted freedom for Kashmir is busy fighting for the freedom for Pakistan. Let see how Pakistanis deal with their freedom fighters.

When India was burning, they were busy cultivating them, everything was well and fine. JuD leader still enjoying his achievements living in Pakistan. Now see how they are willing to fix the problems when freedom fighters wanted freedom.

I dont think Pakistan will ever be peaceful with India. they are busy right now handling their crisis, once that is over, they will start over again. I think there is only one way to deal with Pakistan is the way Americans are using. Look at them how easily they are willing to remove terrorists that hurt America, while keeping the "good" taliban aboard.

Currently, India does not have the power like US has, but in next 10 years we can. Our economy has potential to keep on growing at 8%, whereas the current crisis in Pakistan will stalk its economy growth and FDI. Already our economy about 9 times their size, in next 10 years, it would easily be 20 times their size. We would be able to tout about 60b$ in annual defense budget, whereas they would be fielding about 6-7b$. Only at that stage, we would be able to negotiate and eradicate the "good" taliban of Pakistan, till then we will have bombings in our country.

When we know that incursions have reduced by having troops at the border, why are we moving the troops away? Is the goal to maintain a high level of incursions?