ISLAMABAD, Jan 15: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday that Pakistan had taken enough measures to de-escalate tension in the region.

Presiding over the first meeting of the Kashmir Committee, he said Pakistan now expected India to “reciprocate” and pull back its troops to peacetime locations.

He, however, said that the country’s armed forces had been fully mobilised to repulse any attack and that the whole nation was behind him to meet any eventuality, official sources said.

“Your best deterrence is your ability and an immeasurable resolve to fight back and fight back with full force to defeat the enemy,” the president was quoted as having said in the meeting. He also said that the best deterrence was total preparedness to the capacity and the ability to hit back with sheer force.

Gen Musharraf pointed out that Pakistan would pull back its troops from the borders once the Indians withdrew their forces to the peacetime position.

The sources said that the president expressed the hope that the Indian government would lower the temperature by considering a cut in the number of troops from the line of control, working boundary and other international borders.

The sources said that the president told the participants that since his address to the nation had been widely appreciated by the international community and was considered a step in the right direction to improve relations with India, rulers in New Delhi would hopefully be felt forced to de-escalate the situation.

Talking about Kashmir issue, Gen Musharraf said it was a dispute which needed to be resolved peacefully in accordance with UN resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people. He said Pakistan had a principled stand on Kashmir which could not be compromised under any circumstances.

The sources said that the president assured the members of the Kashmir Committee that Pakistan would continue to extend all possible political, diplomatic and moral support to the people of Kashmir.

He said his government was using all means to settle the Kashmir dispute peacefully. The president called upon the Indian leaders to encourage dialogue so that half-a-century-old Kashmir issue could be resolved amicably.

The president appreciated the composition of Kashmir Committee for having drawn members from all the four provinces and different shades of opinion.

President Musharraf expressed the hope that the committee would create awareness both in and outside the country about the Kashmir issue. “I hope you will have a focussed approach on Kashmir, specially to highlight human rights violations and atrocities being committed by the Indian forces on the innocent people in occupied Kashmir,” the president was quoted as having said.

The president said that the people of Pakistan wanted a peaceful resolution of Kashmir dispute and that without extending the right of self-determination to Kashmiris, differences between the two countries could not be narrowed.

Gen Musharraf paid rich tributes to Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan and said that under his leadership Kashmir Committee would highlight the Kashmir cause more vehemently and in a more organised manner.

Sardar Qayyum on this occasion said that he would work with the support of the people so as to apprise the people in and outside Pakistan about the Kashmir dispute.