Friday, 22 March 2002 |
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Pakistan holds war games near Kashmir border ISLAMABAD, March 20 (Reuters) - Pakistan said it conducted military exercises on Wednesday near its tense border with India in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. State-run television said infantry and artillery units of the Pakistan army took part in the exercises, codenamed "Timur", after the 14th century Muslim invader of the sub-continent. India and Pakistan have mobilised about a million troops along their border after a bloody attack on India's parliament last December which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based Muslims fighting its rule in Kashmir. The television report said military commander Lt. Gen. Arif Hasan visited the exercise area and "expressed his satisfaction at the state of prepardness and high morale of the troops". "The exercises were the part of professional training of the troops deployed in the area," Pakistan Television quoted a military official as saying. India says it will not scale down its troop level on the border until Pakistan ends what it terms "cross-border terrorism" in Kashmir. Islamabad says it only offers political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri separatist movement. India controls about 45 percent of Kashmir, Pakistan a little more than a third and China the rest. 1559 200302 GMT |
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