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Troop reduction will help: Pakistan

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Oct. 15. Pakistan does not have high expectations on resumption of a dialogue with India at an early date though the Cabinet Committee on Security is scheduled to meet in New Delhi tomorrow to review the question of deployment of troops on the Line of Control and the International Border.

But a CCS decision to cut down the strength of troop deployment even ``partially'' could go a long way in de-escalation of tensions between the two countries, a senior official in the Pakistan Foreign Office said.

``Mobilisation of troops on the border since the third week of December has been one of our main grouses against India. While the rhetoric from the Indian leaders has come down considerably since the visit of the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, to the region in the second week of June, our contention is that the threat of escalation remains as long as the troops in such big numbers stay put on the border.''

Islamabad is sceptical about the prospects of early talks, as a day after the Deputy Prime Minister, Lal Kishen Advani, announced the meeting of the CCS, a news agency carried a report that New Delhi had categorically conveyed to Washington that there was no question of a dialogue in the ``foreseeable future.''

Pakistan's internal political situation has only added to the uncertainty. The just-concluded general elections, in which no party has won a majority, and the emergence of an alliance of religious parties as ``third-force'' have undoubtedly complicated matters.

The right-wing parties, under the umbrella of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal have, for the first time, come to the centrestage of Pakistani politics on the plank of `anti-Americanism.' They have also accused the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, of ``compromising'' on the Kashmir issue under pressure from the U.S. Naturally, any group that forms the government in Pakistan would be extra cautious in dealing with India, particularly Kashmir. At the same time, there is little doubt that any Indian move to reduce the strength of troop deployment on the borders would help de-escalate tensions. In recent months, Pakistan has conveyed to the Anglo-American interlocutors that unless India is seen moving towards a phased withdrawal of troops, there is no way it could lower the guard.

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