India announced a limited withdrawal of troops from its border with Pakistan today in what would be the biggest breakthrough in easing a stand-off between the two nuclear powers in almost a year.
But Defence Minister George Fernandes said there was no question of dialogue with Pakistan.
He told reporters after a meeting of the cabinet's security committee that there would also be no scale-down in military deployment in Kashmir.
Analysts said earlier the partial withdrawal from the international border, flagged earlier by a security advisors' meeting, could pave the way for peace talks.
India and Pakistan have a million men massed along their border in the latest confrontation over Kashmir, the trigger of two of their three wars, and came close to war in June.