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| India-Pakistan |
| India rules out LoC troop withdrawal |
| 2006-09-19 |
| Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday ruled out any immediate withdrawal of Indian forces from the Line of Control (LoC). In an interview with a financial daily here, the defence minister said that Pakistan first had to reduce terrorist infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir from its borders and to contain terrorist activities in the Valley before asking India to reduce troop levels in the region. "Troops are needed on the borders to contain the level of terrorist activities on the ground," Mukherjee said, pointing out that infiltration levels had not come down since April. "Even the latest (official) reports on September 16 and 15 have shown that nine terrorists have been killed while trying to cross the border. There has also been a seizure of arms during these days, including some AK rifles," he said. On Held Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's proposal for a ceasefire during Ramzan, Mukherjee said that the Centre had still to receive the formal proposal to undertake this confidence-building measure. |
| Posted by:Fred |