The European Union has welcomed the announcement by India and Pakistan that they would start to withdraw troops from their common border, and urged fresh talks between the nuclear rivals.
"The European Union welcomes the announcement by the government of India to withdraw a significant number of troops from the Indo-Pakistani border...and the response by Pakistan and their announcement of withdrawal of troops," the Danish EU presidency said in a statement.
"The decision underscores the government of India's willingness to de-escalate the conflict and play a stabilising role in South Asia," it added.
Pakistan said yesterday it would withdraw its forces from the Pakistan-India border to their peace-time locations, a day after India decided on a phased withdrawal of its forces from the neighbours' heavily fortified frontier.
"The European Union again calls on India and Pakistan to resume as soon as possible a diplomatic dialogue on all issues that divide them, including Kashmir" the statement added, offering EU help to defuse the current crisis.
"The European Union hopes that these very important initial steps will be followed by further initiatives to de-escalate tensions and build confidence between the parties" the statement concluded.
AFP