India begins troop reduction in Kashmir
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh headed to India’s portion of disputed Kashmir today for the start of a partial troop withdrawal hailed by rival Pakistan as an important step toward easing tensions over the Himalayan region.
Singh has cited a reduction of separatist violence in India’s Jammu-Kashmir state as a reason for the troop reduction, but militants launched an attack just hours before his scheduled arrival in the state’s summer capital, Srinagar.
At least two suspected separatists lobbed grenades and fired at soldiers guarding offices less than a mile from a sports field where Singh planned to give a public address, police officer Javed Ahmed said.
Two soldiers and a civilian were wounded, he said.
Singh had no plans to change his scheduled because of the attack, said Farooq Renzu, the Jammu-Kashmir government spokesman.
Separatists meanwhile shut down much of Jammu-Kashmir’s activity today with a general strike, coinciding with Singh’s visit, to protest the Hindu-dominated central government’s control over the Muslim-majority region.
Only a few cars and motorcycles were on the roads, and businesses were closed as thousands of soldiers secured sites for the prime minister’s arrival.
India has not announced how many troops will be withdrawn from the highly militarised frontier with Pakistan, but news reports have said only about 40,000 of India’s half million troops in Kashmir would be redeployed.
The first contingent of at least 1,000 troops was today set to head out from the Khanabal base camp, 35 miles south of Srinagar, the summer capital of India’s Jammu-Kashmir state, an army officer said.
Pakistan has welcomed the troop move as “a good beginning” as the two nuclear-armed south Asian neighbours push forward with peace talks aimed at ending more than a half-century of enmity.
“This confidence-building measure would further facilitate the India-Pakistan dialogue,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan said.
India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir, which is divided between them, but claimed by both in its entirety. Islamic guerrillas have fought since 1989 for independence of India’s portion of Kashmir, or its merger with mostly Islamic Pakistan.
Indian officials accuse Islamabad of training and funding Pakistan-based insurgents who cross into Indian territory to fight in the rebellion. Pakistan denies the charge, but has pledged to curb the infiltration.
Singh last week announced that he would order some troops to withdraw from Kashmir, citing declines in separatist violence there and cross-border incursions.
It appeared to be a response to Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s call last month for flexibility over the Kashmir dispute, and his proposal to demilitarise the territory.
A full withdrawal by both sides is considered highly unlikely until the Kashmir dispute is resolved.
The prime minister also was scheduled to visit the main Muslim shrine of Hazratbal and a Sikh temple in Srinagar. He also planned to meet political and business leaders and preside over a graduation ceremony at a Srinagar agriculture university during his two-day trip.
“The prime minister should first apologise for the excesses committed by the government forces in Kashmir,” said Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a pro-Pakistan leader of the Hurriyat Conference – Kashmir’s main separatist alliance.
Mobile phone networks in Srinagar were being jammed during the trip for security reasons, government-controlled radio said.
