Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday announced reduction in troops in the occupied Kashmir in a fresh initiative to push forward a fraying peace process with Pakistan. Manmohan Singh, who is making his first trip to Indian occupied Kashmir next week, said the situation had improved in the Himalayan region. "In recognition of the improvement of the state, the government has decided to reduce deployment of troops this winter," he said in a statement.
The announcement came after President Pervez Musharraf's call last month for a debate over the possibility of removing arms and troops from the Indian occupied Kashmir to break the stalemate over the region.
Analysts said the Indian decision to scale back troops in Indian occupied Kashmir, which comes before Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz makes a rare visit to New Delhi this month, could breathe new life to the peace process.
"It is a great move in the context of the composite dialogue. It lends a certain impetus to the peace process and an answer to the disquiet expressed about where the dialogue was going," Uday Bhaskar said, who heads the New Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
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