NEW DELHI, Oct 17: The Indian army could take up to six weeks to complete the withdrawal of some 500,000 troops from the border with Pakistan, reports quoted army officials as saying on Thursday.

Separate reports said Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was expected to travel to Islamabad in January to attend the Saarc summit, a decision said to have been cleared by the cabinet committee on security which had also ordered the redeployment of troops on Wednesday.

A senior official was quoted as saying the cabinet’s decision to allow Mr Vajpayee to travel to Islamabad was not a signal of talks resuming between the two countries. A decision about Mr Vajpayee’s visit will be taken at an appropriate time, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said in New Delhi.

“If the Saarc summit is held, the prime minister will definitely attend it. But the summit should have an objective and it should not be just to see each other’s faces,” he said.

Meanwhile, Star News quoted US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca as saying she hoped that India and Pakistan would now engage in talks to resolve their differences.

Asked if Pakistan should reciprocate India’s decision to de-escalate tensions, she said: “We certainly think it is important that tension should be lowered in the region”.

Star News said Russia had also described India’s decision to pull back its troops from the international border as a “major de-escalatory step”.

Kremlin further said: “This is a very responsible step taken by the Indian government after successful elections in Jammu and Kashmir. It should also be seen as India’s goodwill gesture to the new civilian government to be formed in Islamabad”.

Britain too termed India’s decision to withdraw troops as a positive move and hoped it would lead to a full and substantive dialogue, Star News said.

“We welcome this positive move by the Indian government. It is a step towards reduction of tension in the region and we hope this will lead to a full and substantive dialogue between India and Pakistan,” it quoted a spokesperson of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London as saying.

Despite the decision to withdraw, troops would remain on high alert, an Indian minister said.

“Relocation means that they would be intelligently and effectively deployed to keep peace in Jammu and Kashmir and to be prepared for eventualities,” I.D. Swamy, minister of state for home, said.

To move the massive deployment of troops to peace-time bases the army headquarters has approached the government for warrants for special trains and aircraft to transport the troops.

Army sources were quoted as saying the withdrawal would start from the border facing Punjab and then subsequently troops from Rajasthan, Gujarat and Jammu sector would be withdrawn.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir’s outgoing chief minister Farooq Abdullah said the reduction of troops along borders with Pakistan and his party’s drubbing in the Kashmir elections were two “good steps” that would make Islamabad happy.