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India not engaged in troop build-up along border

India has informed Pakistan that it has not engaged in any sort of troop build-up along the frontier and sought firm action against terrorist camps.

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ISLAMABAD: India has informed Pakistan that it has not engaged in any sort of troop build-up along the frontier and sought firm action against terrorist camps and militant groups operating from the Pakistani soil.

New Delhi has also told Islamabad that it has no plans for a military action, but wanted a combination of "executive action and judicial processes" against terrorist elements like
the Lashker-e-Taiba and its front organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawah, which have been linked to the Mumbai attacks.

This message was conveyed during Indian high commissioner Satyabrata Pal's meeting with Pakistan's foreign secretary Salman Bashir here on Friday. Indian deputy high commissioner Manpreet Vohra was also present, diplomatic sources said.
  
The Pakistani side said any surgical strike by India in response to the Mumbai terror attacks would be seen as an "act of war". To this, the Indian officials stated that there was "no reason for the war hysteria" being witnessed in Pakistan, the sources said.

The Indian officials made it clear that there had been no build-up of troops along the Pakistan frontier and that New Delhi had no plans for military action, the sources said.
The Indian side also conveyed the message that "words and commitments" were not adequate in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, which were "just a symptom of the larger problem" of terrorists operating from the Pakistani soil, the sources said.
    
"There is a need for firm action against such elements. We don't see the shutting down of terrorist camps. Armed militants with guns are still moving around and terrorist camps are still operational," a source said.
    
The sources said India wanted a combination of "executive action and judicial processes" against terrorist elements like the LeT and JuD. The shutting down of terrorist camps, including the JuD complex in Murdike near Lahore and militant facilities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, required executive action. This would also be in compliance with the UN Security Council resolution seeking action against militant and terrorist groups linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda, the sources said.
    
Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said on Friday that Bashir had told the Indian High Commissioner that there was a need for steps by India to defuse tensions. Sadiq also said Pakistan is awaiting India's response to proposals for dealing with the fallout of the Mumbai incident.

These proposals include the setting up of a joint investigative commission led by the National Security Advisors of the two countries to probe the Mumbai attacks and sending a high-level delegation led by foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to New Delhi to discuss the sharing of evidence. 

However, diplomatic sources indicated that India would wait for more action against militants by Pakistan before responding to these proposals. Meanwhile, analysts believe the partial pullout of Pakistani troops from the tribal areas is a signal to the US that Islamabad may withdraw its troops from NWFP for deployment along the Indian border if Washington fails to play a role in defusing regional tensions.
    
India has blamed Pakistan-based elements, including the LeT, for the Mumbai attacks. It has asked Pakistan to act against these elements and to deliver on past commitments to not allow terrorists to operate from its soil.

Pakistan has said it is waiting for India to provide evidence and information to push forward its own investigation into the Mumbai incident.

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