India cuts Kashmir troops in peace gesture
11/11/2004 - 15:06:01Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has ordered the reduction of troops in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
The order is aimed at helping the ongoing peace process with Pakistan and must be seen as another confidence-building measure by the Indian government, an official said in the capital, New Delhi.
India has deployed about one million troops in the Himalayan region since 1989, when more than a dozen Islamic guerrilla groups began fighting for independence of the Indian-held portion of Kashmir, or its merger with neighbouring Pakistan.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which has been divided between the South Asian rivals since independence from Britain in 1947, but claimed by both in its entirety.
