The comments from the foreign ministers of the south Asian rivals were the latest in a series of tit-for-tat responses since the Mumbai attacks that India blamed on Pakistan-based militants, triggering a deterioration in relations. "Dialogue is in the interest of both the countries -- we should sit across the table," Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in a policy statement broadcast live on local television.

"India should de-activate its forward air bases and relocate its ground forces to peacetime positions," Qureshi said. "This will send a positive signal and reduce tensions in the region."

Qureshi described developments in the past two days -- such as a hotline conversation between high-level military officials from the two countries -- as "positive".

But his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee quickly fired back, saying New Delhi had carried out no military movements near the already heavily militarised common border beyond a "normal winter exercise".

"First there should be escalation from the Indian side, then the question of de-escalation will come. We have not escalated anything," Mukherjee told the Press Trust of India news agency.

Officials said here last week that Pakistani troops had been shifted from the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan to the eastern border with India, following intelligence that New Delhi had redeployed troops to the area.

But an Indian army spokesman told AFP there had been no troop movements on its side of the frontier.

Mukherjee said any Indian troop movements near the border were part of a "normal winter exercise", describing Qureshi's remarks as a way to divert attention from India's demand that Pakistan do more to rein in extremists.

"We are only asking that you fulfil these commitments you have made," he said.

India has blamed the banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for the attacks on its financial centre Mumbai, which left 172 people dead, including nine of the 10 gunmen.

New Delhi says Pakistan has not done enough to crack down on LeT in response to the attacks but Qureshi reiterated Islamabad would cooperate with India if it provided concrete evidence that Pakistani nationals were involved.

Mukherjee retorted: "Kindly dismantle the infrastructural facilities, dismantle the camps... up to now we have not seen any such thing."

On Monday, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and the country's powerful army chief General Ashfaq Kayani called for calm with India.

"Pakistan and India need to engage in dialogue to address their differences," Zardari told visiting Chinese vice foreign minister He Yafei.

Kayani also "highlighted the need to de-escalate and avoid conflict in the interest of peace and security" during his talks with the Chinese envoy.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir.

They came to the brink of a fourth war after an attack on the Indian parliament in late 2001 -- a strike New Delhi also blamed on LeT.

Both sides deployed hundreds of thousands of troops to the border but they eventually pulled back following intense international mediation.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News