President says 'our stand is vindicated'

President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday India's move to withdraw troops from the border "vindicates" Pakistan's stand for resolution of disputes through negotiations even as military officials said the withdrawal process from the international border to peacetime locations would get under way within 48 hours.

Musharraf made the remarks at a Corps Commanders meeting that he chaired after another high-level session earlier decided that Pakistani troops would "shortly" begin withdrawing from the border.

"The Indian announcement of troop withdrawal vindicates Pakistan's stance that the only solution to the issues confronting India and Pakistan is through dialogue and not coercion, belligerence and saber ratting," an official statement quoted Musharraf as saying.

The president praised the "professionalism and high morale" of Pakistan forces which he said "braved all adversity and displayed high morale in the defence of the motherland."

The Corps Commanders reviewed the geo-political environment, situation on the borders and on the Line of Control in Kashmir and India's decision to pull back its forces, the statement said.

Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmad Khan said: "The Government of Pakistan has decided to withdraw its forces from the Pakistan-India border to their peacetime locations and the pullback will commence shortly."

An hour earlier, Khan had welcomed the Indian decision as a step in the right direction and said it would receive "timely and positive" response by Pakistan after its "implementation on the ground".

The meeting under Musharraf apparently decided to go a step further to start the pullback straightaway without waiting for the Indian side to begin the process. The quick shift showed Pakistan did not want to be viewed as being lukewarm to India's major tension-defusing move, which analysts here attributed to Western pressure, economic strain and internal discontent.

Khan also separately welcomed Indian Junior Foreign Minsiter Digvijay Singh's statement that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was likely to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit scheduled for January 11-13 in Islamabad.

"Pakistan welcomes participation of all Saarc member countries as this would help the cause of regional cooperation," the spokesman said, when his comment was sought on the Indian minister's statement.

Pakistan, whose fragile economy has also been hit by costly military deployment, has persistently called for reciprocal troop pullback to remove lingering risk of conflict by design or miscalculation.

The South Asian nuclear rivals stepped back from the brink of war in May-June as a result of diplomatic mediation by the United States and other major powers that led to Pakistan's promise to stop militants from crossing into Indian-adminstered Kashmir.

The Pakistani reaction to the Indian troop withdrawal move avoided any direct reference to New Delhi's decision to continue the heavy troop deployment along the disputed border in Kashmir.

Khan emphasised that Pakistan had always stood for de-escalation and dialogue on resolving the Kashmir dispute and all other issues between the two countries.

Defence analysts here said the Indian decision and Pakistan's prompt positive response would greatly help improve the 11-month climate of confrontation and prospects for resumption of peace talks.