NEW DELHI, Feb 6: The Indian Army removed 5,000 troops from the Jammu and Kashmir following much improvement in the situation there and more could be redeployed if violence further decreases, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here on Monday.

“It is not withdrawal but redeployment of forces from Jammu and Kashmir to the Northeast as violence level has come down,” Press Trust of India quoted him as saying on the sidelines of an Army conference.

Commenting on questions if the exercise was timed to coincide with the visit of US President George W. Bush to the country, Mr Mukherjee said it was a “routine exercise. The redeployment is a regular exercise undertaken after review of the situation in the state. Last year, we had reduced troops voluntarily.”