Pak asks India to back off, deactivate troops

TALKING WAR: Qureshi's statement comes at a time when India has not even moved its troops.

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Islamabad: Pakistan called on India on Tuesday to deactivate its air bases, return troops to "peacetime" positions and resume a dialogue suspended after last month's terror attacks in Mumbai.

Tension between the neighbours has been running high since 217 people were killed in the terror attacks on India's financial hub.

"I believe if India deactivates its forward air bases and similarly, relocates its troops to peacetime positions, that will be a positive step," Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in a televised address.

"I believe by this, the existing tension in the region will be reduced," he said. Pakistan has condemned the Mumbai attacks and has denied any role, blaming "non-state actors".

India, the United States and Britain have blamed the attacks on Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), set up by Pakistani security agencies in the late 1980s to fight Indian rule in the disputed Kashmir region.

The group was banned in Pakistan in 2002. India is demanding Pakistan dismantle what it calls the infrastructure of terrorism and has put a "pause" on a five-year peace process that had brought better ties between the old rivals.

Army Leave Cancelled

As tension rose after the Mumbai attacks Pakistan cancelled army leave and moved a "limited number" of soldiers off the Afghan border "for defensive measures", military officials said. The military has officially denied any build-up of forces on the Indian border, though a security official said some troops had been moved there.

India has said its troops were on stand-by, although it said it had made no new deployments since the Mumbai attacks. Qureshi, who was in India on a visit aimed at boosting ties when the gunmen struck Mumbai, said the peace process was in the interests of both countries. "We should not ignore the importance of dialogue. It's our point of view that pressure and coercion do not improve relations between friends but make them complicated. That should be avoided," he said.

"That will not benefit the two countries but those forces which tried to create tension and unease by this incident and put the peace of this region at stake."