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India-Pakistan: Pressure Eases as India Pulls Back Some Forces Tensions in South Asia decreased today as Indian ships began moving away from locations near Pakistan in the northern Arabian Sea back to bases near Mumbai, an Indian Navy spokesman said. India yesterday lifted a ban forbidding Pakistani aircraft from using Indian airspace (see GSN, June 10). Indian Defense Ministry sources, however, said ground troops will not begin moving back from Pakistani borders until Pakistan provides permanent signs that there is a reduction in cross-border shelling, an end to infiltration of militants into India and an effort to halt funding to the militants (Reuters/Times of India, June 11). India’s steps toward de-escalation followed a promise from Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf last week to halt infiltration permanently, according to the New York Times. India also has selected a new ambassador to Pakistan and expects to proceed with his appointment if it perceives that Pakistan is continuing to crack down on militant infiltration across the Line of Control dividing Kashmir, officials said. Pakistani Reaction In response to Indian gestures, Pakistan is expected to open its airspace to Indian aircraft, the Times reported. Officials have insisted, however, that the two countries discuss their dispute over Kashmir — something India has refused to do (see GSN, June 10). “The response we expect is the initiation of a dialogue process on Kashmir,” Musharraf said today before India’s announcement (Celia Dugger, New York Times, June 11). “The threat of war in the last four or five days has diminished, but the situation has not changed,” Musharraf said, adding that the “stumbling block in the way of peace” is Kashmir (Reuters, June 9). In line with Musharraf's pledge to end infiltration, militants have said that Pakistani officials has warned them not to fundraise or recruit volunteers. “All types of support to Kashmiri freedom fighters has stopped,” a Kashmiri leader said. Militants might still fight, however, and “it's difficult to imagine anyone successfully stopping them (the separatists) completely,” said Khalid Mehmood of Pakistan’s Institute of Regional Studies (Bokhari/Muzaffarabad, Financial Times, June 11). Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi to meet with officials tomorrow morning before flying to Pakistan tomorrow afternoon (Dugger, New York Times). For further information, see: Stimson Center Background on Kashmir Pakistani Embassy to the United States Indian Embassy to the United States
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