Pakistan, India agree to pull back troops to peacetime positions
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and India have agreed to withdraw troops deployed during their recent clash to peacetime positions, in a step towards de-escalation following a ceasefire deal, Pakistani intelligence sources told dpa on Tuesday.
The withdrawal was agreed during the latest round of "hotline" communication between senior military officials from both sides.
According to sources, the two countries will return to peacetime deployment positions along their border and the Line of Control - the de facto frontier dividing Kashmir - by the end of May.
On May 10, nuclear-armed rivals agreed to the ceasefire after days of tit-for-tat drone, missile and airstrikes, targeting each other's military installations and airbases.
The trigger for the latest tensions was the militant attack on April 22 in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people, mostly Indian tourists.
New Delhi pointed the finger at Islamabad, accusing it of supporting militants, and then launched attacks on both Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the early hours of May 7, killing dozens of people and igniting fears the region was on the brink of an all-out war.
Pakistan denied having any role in the attack on the holidaymakers and asked for independent investigations.
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