ISLAMABAD, Nov 17: Pakistan government welcomed on Wednesday the first withdrawal of Indian troops from disputed Kashmir, while powerful Islamic parties dismissed the historic move as tokenistic 'eyewash.'
"This is a positive development and a good beginning," foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan told AFP. "We hope that gradual reduction of troops would provide relief to the Kashmiris, promote respect for their human rights, and reinforce the dialogue process."
Kashmir, a scenic region of Himalayan mountains and rivers straddling the northern corners of Pakistan and India, has been claimed by both neighbours since the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947.
A bloody insurgency by Islamic rebels who want all of Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region, to fall under the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has raged since 1989, taking tens of thousands of lives.
In the first phase of a troop reduction promised by Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh last week, a battalion of paratroopers left the town of Anantnag in the Indian-controlled half of Kashmir on Wednesday.
The Indian army has not said how many troops would be removed from the held valley. A Pakistan alliance of Islamic parties, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, said the troop pullout was neither a "withdrawal, nor solution to the problem", and repeated long-held calls to let Kashmiris choose rule by Pakistan or India through a plebiscite.
"It's an eyewash," Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who heads the alliance, told AFP. "If India is sincere, it should respect the voice of Kashmiris and give them the right to decide their future according to the UN resolutions," he said, referring to UN Security Council resolutions dating back to 1948.
Dr Singh said further troop reductions were possible if the violence of the past 15 years ended. "We are working with Pakistan to put an end to senseless violence," the Indian premier said soon after arriving in Srinagar, for his first visit since taking office in May.
"I have already given instructions to reduce troops in Kashmir and if violence goes down and if infiltration (of militants) ends, it will become easier for me to reduce forces further," he said.
Pakistan replied that violence "in all forms and manifestations must go down". Islamabad has long accused Indian troops of brutality against Kashmiris, including rape, torture, arbitrary arrests and killings.
"Concerted efforts should be made to replace the culture of violence with a culture of dialogue," Mr Khan said. Shortly before Dr Singh arrived in Srinagar for his historic visit, militants attacked security forces guarding the venue where he was to address a rally. -AFP
