JAMMU, June 16: Batches of Indian soldiers who have been on a war footing on the Pakistani border for the past six months have begun going on leave, but defence sources on Sunday ruled out a military de- escalation.

The sources said Indian troops were in fact preparing for a long haul on the borders as they expected to be pulled out only after the elections in Kashmir were over in October.

“It is fair to say that another four months, or at least until the elections are over in Kashmir, the soldiers will remain on the borders,” one highly-placed defence source said.

A defence spokesman said a full one quarter of the hundreds of thousands of Indian soldiers massed on the borders with Pakistan would be allowed to go on leave for a month.

“For the last six months there were strict restrictions imposed on leave and only for a personal emergency could a soldier be granted leave. These have been lifted,” the spokesman said.

He refused to comment on the number of soldiers who had applied for leave.

A defence source, however, said a full 25 per cent of the soldiers posted along the borders were being allowed to proceed on leave. “It is back to normal peace time situation regarding leave. The soldiers are allowed to take a month,” the source said. “Daily about 1,000 soldiers are going back to their homes.”

Dozens of army trucks have been seen since late Saturday transporting Indian soldiers posted along the international border with Pakistan in the desert state of Rajasthan to nearby railway stations.

Soldiers with rucksacks were seen crowding railway platforms in Jodhpur, Barmer and Jaisalmer.

The relaxation of leave restrictions is the latest in a series of measures by India aimed at easing tension with its neighbour.

On Saturday, the chief minister of occupied Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, had a narrow escape when guerillas fired two rocket propelled grenades near a building in Srinagar where he was attending a function, police said.

One of the shells exploded in a stream 200 metres away, while another hit a wall of the building but did not explode, police said. It was later defused.

Indian commandos whisked the chief minister away from the government building, which he was opening, in the Bemina area of Srinagar. Local men were rounded up and paraded in front of masked informers — former militants who volunteer to identify rebels. —AFP