Indian officials on Wednesday rejected calls for an early withdrawal of troops from Indian Occupied Kashmir, saying militancy was spreading from the disputed territory to elsewhere in the country.
The comments came ahead of talks next week with Pakistan over the presence of troops on the 6,300-metre (20,700-foot) Siachen glacier.
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told parliament "there was no question of any withdrawal of troops from Siachen so long as talks going on with Pakistan on the issue do not yield any results. "Nine round of talks have been held on Siachen and the 10th round is going to be held on May 23 and 24," he said.
Mukherjee also ruled out troop withdrawals from towns in the Kashmir valley. "The number of security forces in the valley will depend on the changing threat perception, and since no decrease has been noticed in that regard, no troops withdrawal was under consideration," he said.
National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan also rejected calls to withdraw some troops from Indian Occupied Kashmir, saying "Militancy, hitherto confined to that state, is fast spreading to other places, including Varanasi and Bangalore," Narayanan said in the southern city of Kozhikode.
"There are therefore no options for demilitarisation now as we cannot compromise on our security there," the Press Trust of India quoted him as saying.
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