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| J&K demilitarisation mere speculation:PM | | | New Delhi, March 4
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dismissed as ‘speculation’ Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq's claim that India and Pakistan have agreed to reduce troops in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
"These are all speculation," he said when asked to comment on the Mirwaiz's statement in Srinagar on Friday that the two countries had agreed on the withdrawal of troops from either side of the Line of Control in Kashmir.
Singh made it clear that security forces had been deployed only to protect citizens and the government was not averse to reducing their levels once terrorism ceased.
"We will be happy to reduce troops if terrorism ceases as our army is not an army of occupation. They are there to protect the lives and liberties of law-abiding people," Singh said on the sidelines of a book release function.
The statement came close on the heels of the People's Democratic Party, the Congress' ally in Jammu and Kashmir's ruling coalition, making a strong pitch for reduction of troops by citing an improvement in the security situation. |
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