Delhi rules out early pullback

Published June 27, 2002

NEW DELHI, June 26: Ruling out any immediate pullback of troops from the India-Pakistan borders, Deputy Chief of the Army Staff Lt-Gen R S Kadyan on Tuesday said the decision on reduction of troops was to be a “political decision” and would be taken by the country’s leadership at the “appropriate time”.

Denying reports that India is planning to pull back troops from Rajasthan and Punjab sectors, Kadyan asserted there were no such immediate plans.

On the question of “infiltration”, India’s Deputy Chief of Army Staff said: “It is too early to discern whether movement across the LoC has come down.

“We will have to monitor the situation over a period of time before coming to any definitive conclusion”.

However, Gen Kadyan, speaking on the sidelines of a function to flag off the new Indian contingent to the UN peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, said the army “has plans to re-start some of the vital training courses for which some officers and personnel would be sent back to training institutions.

Declaring that positioning of the troops on the border is a “training in itself”, he ruled out any sizable pullback of officers and personnel from the border for training purposes.—APP

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.