WEBDESK: Pakistan and India are close to completing a major troop reduction along their border, according to General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chairman of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. The move comes after weeks of heightened tension following a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in April.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza said that both countries have almost returned to the troop levels seen before the latest round of border clashes. “The drawdown is nearly complete,” he stated, calling it a “positive step toward peace.”
The recent crisis began on April 22 when a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 people. India blamed the attack on militants backed by Pakistan, which Islamabad has strongly denied. In the following days, both nations launched retaliatory strikes and sent more troops to the border, raising fears of a larger conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
General Sahir Shamshad Mirza warned that future crises could become more dangerous due to a lack of proper communication channels between the two countries. He noted that the recent conflict was more widespread geographically than past ones and added, “We may not have the luxury of time for third-party intervention next time.”
While a ceasefire was eventually reached—reportedly with help from U.S. diplomats—India has stressed that any talks with Pakistan must be direct and bilateral. There are currently no formal backchannel talks or planned meetings between military leaders from both sides.
“We have almost come back to the pre-22nd April situation… we are approaching that, or we must have approached that by now,” said General Sahir, the most senior Pakistani military official to speak publicly since the conflict.
Still, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza believes that continued efforts to reduce tensions and avoid misunderstandings are essential. He encouraged both countries to work on creating better crisis management tools to prevent escalation in the future.
“Nothing happened this time,” he said. “But you can’t rule out any strategic miscalculation at any time, because when the crisis is on, the responses are different.”
But General Sahir warned that international mediation might be difficult in the future because of a lack of crisis management mechanisms between the countries.
“The time window for the international community to intervene would now be very less, and I would say that damage and destruction may take place even before that time window is exploited by the international community,” he said.
Pakistan was open to dialogue, he added, but beyond a crisis hotline between the directors general of military operations and some hotlines at the tactical level on the border, there was no other communication between the two countries.
Mirza said there were no backchannel discussions, or informal talks, to ease tensions. He also said he had no plans to meet General Anil Chauhan, India’s chief of defence staff, who is also in Singapore for the Shangri-La forum.
“These issues can only be resolved by dialogue and consultations, on the table. They cannot be resolved on the battlefield,” Mirza said.
