India, Pakistan vow to keep Kashmir truce
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-09 09:57

India and Pakistan agreed Monday to extend a two-year-old cease-fire in disputed Kashmir, but did not discuss the question of reducing their military presence there, an Indian official said, AP reported.

Delegates at the talks also agreed not to develop new guard posts or defense installments along the cease-fire line dividing the Himalayan territory claimed by both nations, said Navtej Sarna, a spokesman for India's External Affairs Ministry.

Both sides "reaffirmed their commitment to uphold the ongoing cease-fire," and agreed not to violate each other's air space, Sarna said.

Local army commanders from both sides will meet monthly to try to deal with any problems.

Kashmir has been the focus on continuing strife between the two neighbors. In 2003, India and Pakistan agreed on a truce along the disputed cease-fire line dividing Kashmir between them as part of peace efforts. Before that, the two armies routinely exchanged fire, causing almost daily casualties.

India-Pakistan relations have warmed since January 2004, but the nuclear-armed rivals have made little progress toward resolving their competing claims to Kashmir, which lie at the heart of their longstanding dispute.

On Monday, Sarna said neither side had proposed reducing its military presence in Kashmir.

Pakistan's army estimates there are about 700,000 Indian security forces in the region, but Indian officials say there are fewer than 500,000. Pakistan says it has 50,000 troops in Kashmir.

The 2003 cease-fire is a keystone in a still-fragile peace process aimed at resolving five decades of enmity between the two countries, which have fought three wars 錕斤拷 two of them over Kashmir 錕斤拷 since their independence from Britain in 1947.

Major complications to peace efforts are a dozen or so Islamic rebel groups fighting in India's portion of Muslim-majority Kashmir for the territory's independence from predominantly Hindu India, or its merger with mostly Muslim Pakistan. The 15-year insurgency has claimed more than 66,000 lives, mostly civilians.

On Saturday, both sides agreed to set up a hot line next month "to prevent misunderstandings and reduce risks relevant to nuclear issues."

They also agreed to formalize a long-standing arrangement to inform each other about upcoming missile tests.

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