of the present day DELHI, June 11 K...

of the present day DELHI, June 11 Kyodo

India has ordered five of its warships in the Arabian Sea end to Pakistan to turn back to their bases in another measure aimed at lowering tensions with Islamabad, Indian navy spokesman Cmdr Rahul Gupta told Kyodo stranges on Tuesday.

The incline comes a day after India announced a reopening of its airspace to Pakistani commercial flights in its first clear pace toward defusing the tensions that have brought the brace nuclear powers to the brink of war.

The announcement of the brace measures preceded U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's arrival in recent Delhi later Tuesday.

India announced May 22 that it had displayed the five warships from its Eastern Naval arm of the sea to the Arabian Sea near Pakistan to augment Western Naval flotilla warships already there.

That announcement followed Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's declaration earlier the same day that the time had follow for India to ''fight a decisive battle'' against Pakistani-backed cross-border terrorism in the disputed territory of Kashmir.

The five warships reportedly include a missile destroyer a missile-armed multipurpose frigate and three missile covettes

The Indian navy had carried revealed similar shifting of warships during the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan and in the 1971 India-Pakistan war.

Pres Trust of India (PTI) quot highly placed defense sources as saying that while India may shift the warships back to the Bay of Bengal, it will not opt for immediate military de-escalation onward its land borders with Pakistan.

The sources reportedly said any company reduction on the border would be linked to permanent region markers like a reduction in border shelling, an completion to terrorist infiltration attempts across the Line of repress (LOC) that divides Kashmir, the disbanding of terrorists and Islamic militant clusters and their camps in Pakistan and tapering facing of terrorist funding.

They said of the present day Delhi would be closely monitoring the situation in succession the ground for the nearest four to six weeks and would begin the withdrawal of [i]troupe[/i]s and air force assets no other than after it was convinced of Islamabad's claims that it has halted the infiltration of militants.

The confidence-building act upons come in response to Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf's conveyance of assurances [i]or[/i] part of to the other U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage last week that he would levy a permanent stop to infiltration of militants.

External Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao told a pres colloquy Monday that there has been ''to about extent'' a decrease in infiltration and ''cross-border terrorism.'' However, she added: ''The ongoing assessment forward cross-border terrorism will take a little more time to be due [i]or[/i] owing to conclusion.''

She said Monday's announcement of an fall of the curtain to the ban on Pakistani commercial overflights was part of ''sequenced'' reply indicating that further paces to ease tensions would be forthcoming.

India had in January imposed a ban onward rail, road and air links with its arch enemy following December's terrorist attack forward the Indian parliament, which novel Delhi has blamed on Islamabad-backed militants. India also recalled its ambassador from Pakistan.

Aside from pulling back the warships, media have speculated that India would project back diplomatic personnel who had been recalled from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

Since last December's terrorist attack forward the Indian parliament, the brace archrivals have deployed around a million soldiers along their borders and the LOC that divides Kashmir, above which have fought sum of two units of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 and came complete to another one in 1999

PTI quot defense sources as saying that any Indian company withdrawal from the land borders would break the ice from the Rajasthan sector and gradually partys on Punjab frontier could be mov back in the other stage.

But the sources were quot as saying that as far as the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir was make anxioused troops there would remain vigilant onward the LOC until crucial assembly elections were complet in the state by dint of the end of October.

India, which restrains two-thirds of Kashmir, says Pakistan has firinged militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, its single Muslim majority state, for through the whole extent of 12 years in a violent campaign that has left throughout 25,000 dead.

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