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Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will head a strategic meeting Wednesday on the issue of reducing the number of troops massed on the border with nuclear rival Pakistan, officials said.

The meeting will be attended by his security cabinet and members of policy-making bodies such as the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) and Strategic Policy Group, they said.

The conclave will be briefed by top military officials and members of the secret service on the "prevailing situation" on the border and on the levels of success in stemming the flow of militants from Pakistan, one official said.

A section of the NSAB has been pressing the government hard for cross-border military strikes on alleged Muslim militant training camps in the Pakistani zone of divided Kashmir.

"Any withdrawal of troops will entirely depend on the last-minute feedback from our intelligence agencies and the military on the situation on the ground," a senior defence ministry source told AFP.

"But one core issue that would be factored in the meeting is the onset of winter when the main infiltration routes into Kashmir are anyway blocked by snow," the source added.

Bal Thackeray, a highly influential rightwing Hindu leader, meanwhile warned Vajpayee against troops withdrawal and cited last month's attack by Muslim rebels on a popular temple as one of the many reasons to keep border security up.

"The thought of withdrawing security forces is idiotic. Despite a 24-hour vigil on the border, there is large-scale infiltration (of militants) from Pakistan's side", Thackeray said in his home bastion of Bombay city.

His radical Hindu Shiv Sena party is not only a key legislative ally of Vajpayee's coalition government but also holds sway over millions of Hindus across western India and has massive pockets of sympathisers across the nation.

"Only two terrorists created havoc in Akshardham temple and can one imagine what will happen if war with Pakistan breaks out?" the Sena supremo said.

Thackeray, addressing his followers, said although the Sena had faith in Vajpayee, he was "fed up with statements only that India will not tolerate any act of terrorism and wage a fight to finish the menace."

"I don't mean that India should invade Pakistan but we must effectively counter threats posed by Pakistan's ISI (secret service) and militant outfits like Lashker-e-Toiba," he said on the eve of the security meet.

Both India and Pakistan deployed a million troops along their borders in December after a deadly attack on India's national parliament which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based Muslim guerrilla groups. Islamabad denied the charge and launched its own crackdown against religious extremism in January.

But despite the troop deployment and tensions, the Indian army recently relaxed rules to allow soliders to go on leave.

Wednesday's meeting comes amid growing pressure on both India and Pakistan by the United States and the European Union to ease border tensions through a phased withdrawal of troops and armour from their frontiers.

Defence Minister George Fernandes had repeatedly said the troops would remain in Kashmir at least until the end of elections in the Indian zone of the Himalayan region.

More than 830 people were killed during the poll in Indian Kashmir that ended October 8, with militants New Delhi claims are sponsored by Islamabad daily attacking poll stations, candidates and civilians.

India and Pakistan fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since their indendence in 1947.

Economists have warned that neither Pakistan nor India can sustain the expense of maintaining huge numbers of troops indefinitely on their borders. 

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