Indo-Pak military talks to ease tensions on hotline
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
ISLAMABAD, Dec 29 (AFP): Senior Pakistani and Indian military officers spoke over the weekend in an apparent bid to ease tensions that have mounted following last month's attacks in Mumbai, an official said Monday.
The unscheduled conversation over the hotline between the nuclear- armed neighbours came after Pakistani officials said they had moved troops to the eastern border with India and cancelled leave for soldiers on active duty.
"The DGMOs talked to each other on the hotline," a Pakistani military official told the news agency, referring to the directors general of military operations from both sides.
The official declined to reveal details of the discussion.
Relations between India and Pakistan have deteriorated in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, which New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan- based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Pakistani officials said last week that the military had redeployed a 'limited' number of troops from tribal areas near Afghanistan, where they are fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, to the eastern border with India.
The move prompted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to summon his military chiefs for a strategy session, and New Delhi advised its nationals not to travel to Pakistan.
An Indian army spokesman told the news agency that New Delhi had not shifted any troops on its side of the already heavily militarised common border.
The United States and Russia have led international calls for calm in both Islamabad and New Delhi. Leaders in both capitals have repeatedly said they do not want war but would act if provoked.
China, one of Pakistan's closest allies, has also been involved in efforts to defuse tensions.
Beijing dispatched Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei to Islamabad for talks Monday with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and other top officials.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir.
They came to the brink of a fourth war after an attack on the Indian parliament in late 2001 -- a strike New Delhi also blamed on LeT.
Both sides deployed hundreds of thousands of troops to the border but they eventually pulled back following intense international mediation.
The unscheduled conversation over the hotline between the nuclear- armed neighbours came after Pakistani officials said they had moved troops to the eastern border with India and cancelled leave for soldiers on active duty.
"The DGMOs talked to each other on the hotline," a Pakistani military official told the news agency, referring to the directors general of military operations from both sides.
The official declined to reveal details of the discussion.
Relations between India and Pakistan have deteriorated in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, which New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan- based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Pakistani officials said last week that the military had redeployed a 'limited' number of troops from tribal areas near Afghanistan, where they are fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, to the eastern border with India.
The move prompted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to summon his military chiefs for a strategy session, and New Delhi advised its nationals not to travel to Pakistan.
An Indian army spokesman told the news agency that New Delhi had not shifted any troops on its side of the already heavily militarised common border.
The United States and Russia have led international calls for calm in both Islamabad and New Delhi. Leaders in both capitals have repeatedly said they do not want war but would act if provoked.
China, one of Pakistan's closest allies, has also been involved in efforts to defuse tensions.
Beijing dispatched Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei to Islamabad for talks Monday with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and other top officials.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir.
They came to the brink of a fourth war after an attack on the Indian parliament in late 2001 -- a strike New Delhi also blamed on LeT.
Both sides deployed hundreds of thousands of troops to the border but they eventually pulled back following intense international mediation.