Pak, India agree to withdraw troops

Pakistan and India have agreed to withdraw troop reinforcements deployed during their recent conflict back to their peacetime positions by the end of May, a senior Pakistani security official told AFP yesterday.

"Troops will be withdrawn to pre-conflict positions by the end of May," the senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The official said both countries agreed a phased withdrawal of the additional troops and weaponry deployed, mostly on the already heavily militarised de facto border in Kashmir, known as the Line of Control (LoC).

It comes after the Indian army last week said both sides agreed to take "immediate measures to ensure troop reduction from the borders and forward areas".

"All of these steps were initially planned to be completed within 10 days, but minor issues caused delays," the Pakistani official added.

Meanwhile, India said yesterday it would resume a daily border ceremony with neighbouring Pakistan which it briefly halted earlier this month following the conflict.

India's Border Security force (BSF) said the sunset ceremony on its side was opened to the media yesterday and to the general public today at the Attari-Wagah land border in the northern state of Punjab.

Pakistan said it never stopped the ceremony, with its troops marching on its side of the border alone.

The ceremony however is expected to be a low-key affair with diplomatic measures against Pakistan still in place, including the closure of the land border.

More than 70 people were killed in the four-day conflict, which was sparked by an attack on tourists by gunmen in Indian-administered Kashmir last month that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing -- a charge it denies.

The military confrontation involving intense tit-for-tat drone, missile, aerial combat and artillery exchanges came to an abrupt end after US President Donald Trump announced a surprise ceasefire, which is still holding.