Pakistan on Tuesday called for talks with India to defuse
tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours, as New Delhi
denied claims it had moved troops into offensive positions
on the border.
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.
