NEW DELHI: India has withdrawn 30,000 soldiers from Kashmir as rebel attacks decreased over the past two years, the defense minister said Friday, but hundreds of thousands are believed to remain in the heavily militarized region also claimed by Pakistan.
Kashmiri separatist groups and Islamabad have been demanding that India thin its forces in the region to boost efforts to settle the decades-old dispute over the territory. A dozen Kashmiri insurgent groups, which seek either independence or merger with Pakistan, have been fighting Indian rule since 1989.
On Friday, India’s Defense Minister A.K. Antony told reporters that the army has withdrawn 30,000 soldiers of its own accord over the past two years and has offered to further draw down forces in the future.
India is believed to have 500,000 to 700,000 army and paramilitary soldiers in the portion of Kashmir it controls. The army won’t confirm its deployment levels.
Separatists in Indian Kashmir were skeptical of the announcement. “It’s too early to say anything without any independent confirmation of the purported ground troop withdrawal. We will verify these claims,” said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a leader of an umbrella group of political and religious separatists.
Antony said the Indian Army withdrew one division last year and a second this year because of the decrease in violence.
