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Pakistan, India close to completing border troop reduction, senior Pakistani general says

REUTERS
Published :
May 30, 2025 17:28
Updated :
May 30, 2025 17:28


General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Pakistan's chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee, speaks during an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue security summit, in Singapore, May 30, 2025, in this screengrab from a video. Photo : Reuters TV/via REUTERS

Pakistan and India are close to reducing the troop build up along their border to levels before conflict erupted between the nuclear-armed neighbours this month, a top Pakistani military official told Reuters on Friday, although he warned the crisis had increased the risk of escalation in the future.

Both sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery in four days of clashes, their worst fighting in decades, before a ceasefire was announced.

The spark for the latest fighting between the old enemies was an April 22 attack in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. New Delhi blamed the incident on "terrorists" backed by Pakistan, a charge denied by Islamabad.

On May 7, India launched missiles at what it said were "terrorist infrastructure" sites across the border and as Pakistan responded with its own attacks, both countries built up additional forces along the frontier.

General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Pakistan's chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said in an interview that the two militaries had started the process of drawing down troop levels.

"We have almost come back to the pre-22nd April situation... we are approaching that, or we must have approached that by now," said Mirza, the most senior Pakistani military official to speak publicly since the conflict.

India's ministry of defence and the office of the Indian chief of defence staff did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the remarks by Mirza.

Mirza, who is in Singapore to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue forum, said while there was no move towards nuclear weapons during this conflict, it was a dangerous situation.

"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."

He also said the risk of escalation in the future had increased since the fighting this time was not limited to the disputed territory of Kashmir, the scenic region in the Himalayas that both nations rule in part but claim in full. The two sides attacked military installations in their mainlands but neither has acknowledged any serious damage.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned Pakistan this month that New Delhi would target "terrorist hideouts" across the border again if there were new attacks on India.

'DANGEROUS TREND'

The two countries have fought three major wars, two of them over Kashmir, and numerous armed skirmishes since both were born out of British colonial India in 1947.

India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of Kashmir that began in 1989 and has killed tens of thousands. Pakistan says it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris seeking self-determination.

"This (conflict) lowers the threshold between two countries who are contiguous nuclear powers...in the future, it will not be restricted to the disputed territory. It would come down to (the) whole of India and (the) whole of Pakistan," Mirza said. "This is a very dangerous trend."

Reuters has reported that the rapid escalation of hostilities ended in part because of behind-the-scenes diplomacy involving the US, India and Pakistan, and the key role played by Washington in brokering peace. India has denied any third-party role in the ceasefire and said that any engagement between India and Pakistan has to be bilateral.

But Mirza 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.

New Delhi has maintained a hard line on any possible rapprochement.

“If there are talks, it will only be on terrorism and (Pakistan Kashmir)," Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday. "If Pakistan is serious about talks, it should hand over terrorists...to India so that justice is served.”

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.​

Ziaur Rahman in the eyes of the masses

Helal Uddin Ahmed
Published :
May 30, 2025 00:01
Updated :
May 30, 2025 00:01



It is not the handful of vocal or partisan intellectuals, or bands of political activists ready to do or undo anything only to promote their own interests that ultimately determine the political course of a nation. Rather, in a democratic set-up, it is the common man whose perceptions and outlook serve as the decisive factor in the unfolding of a nation's political milieu. How does an ordinary citizen of Bangladesh, semi-literate and mostly from sub-urban or rural areas, evaluate Shaheed Zia? Below is given a personal assessment.

To the common man, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman stands as a symbol of the country's liberation war, a saviour of the nation in times of crises, a flagbearer of multi-party democracy, and a leader who single-handedly steered the nation back to the path of progress, pluralism, and development.

The first episode in the legend that surrounds Zia took place in the month of March 1971. The brutal Pakistani army launched a savage and cruel attack on the unarmed people of Bangladesh on March 25 in order to perpetrate genocide. The political leadership were caught unaware; they either escaped to safe areas outside Dhaka, or voluntarily gave themselves up so that they could be escorted to the relative safety of Pakistani jail. In this difficult and confusing situation, the voice of soldier Zia boomed through the ether, "I am Zia speaking..... I proclaim the independence of Bangladesh". It came as a great relief to the millions of Bangladeshis who drew inspiration from it and readied themselves to wage a relentless war against the enemy.

The second episode in the legend of Zia was staged in the battlefields of occupied Bangladesh, when as a sector commander and commander of the Z-Force in the liberation army, Zia distinguished himself through his valour and courage. After independence, he was awarded the prestigious title 'Bir Uttam' for his bravery - the highest honour for a living soldier. Zia was made the first deputy chief of staff of Bangladesh Army and played a pioneering role in its reconstruction.

The most significant episode in Zia's life started on November 7, 1975. In the backdrop of dissolution of democracy by the then one-party BAKSAL government, there was a military coup on August 15, 1975, which ousted the Mujib regime. On November 3, there was another coup that led to the dissolution of parliament and ouster of the Awami League regime headed by Khandakar Mostaque Ahmed. The Chief of Army Staff General Zia was taken prisoner. It was now the turn of the sepoy-people to act in concert and solidarity. They freed their war-hero and saviour, crushed the rebellion of the reactionary forces, and installed Zia as the Deputy Chief Martial Law Administrator under President Sayem.

Heeding to popular sentiment, Zia could not refuse this new assignment to serve the cause of the motherland. He took up the reins and was soon elected to the presidency of the country through a free and fair election held in 1978.

Between 1975 and 1978, Zia did great things for the nation. He reintroduced multi-party democracy in the country that was abolished by the BAKSAL regime, gave back fundamental rights of the people taken away by the Baksalites that included freedom of speech and association, reinvigorated the economy by encouraging private sector initiatives and reducing public sector losses, and initiated a socio-economic revolution in the country through momentous programs like mass literacy, rural electrification, reforms in the industrial, agricultural, and service sectors, afforestation and irrigation, family-welfare measures, infrastructural development, and so on.

The distinctive feature of Zia's socio-economic programs was grassroot development based on participation of the rural populace. He extended the administrative tiers up to the village level, introduced Gram Sarkar or village governments, raised VDP or village defence party, and popularised such programs as canal-digging, tree-plantation, pisciculture, kitchen-gardening, rural maintenance, small and household industries, and so on. A distinct social mobilisation was visible throughout the country based on such virtues as honesty, truthfulness, efficiency, and hard-work. Corruption and nepotism were discouraged at all levels of the state and were sternly dealt with whenever discovered.

The biggest achievement of Shaheed Zia was that he laid the edifice of Bangladeshi nationalism-encapsulating the pride of the Bangladeshis in history, providing the citizens with a national identity, recognising the contributions of their forefathers, the glory of their language, culture, and religious ideals. He also played a creative and forward-looking role in the shaping of Bangladesh's non-aligned foreign policy, which was acclaimed the world over.

But just when everything appeared to be moving in the right direction and the nation seemed poised to embark on an economic take-off, the dark shadow of the conspirators suddenly filled the landscape. Zia was tragically assassinated in the early hours of May 30, 1981. The very next year, Hussain Muhammad Ershad stepped into the scene, removed a democratically elected government, grabbed state power by force, and started his decade-long tyrannical autocracy-- relying on intrigues, corruption, and foul-play.

But the legacy of Shaheed Zia lives on. The over two million mourners who thronged the Manik Mia Avenue at Shere-Bangla Nagar to participate in the largest ever funeral procession in Bangladesh's history was a true reflection of the love, affection, and esteem the people harboured for a man who sacrificed his entire life for the cause of his countrymen. The spontaneity of their participation indicated the level of affiliation and respect the general masses had for Shaheed Zia's dedication and patriotism. As the news of Zia's death spread, there were emotional outbursts all over the country. From the mass media to the playing fields, from the newscasters to renowned sportsmen, people wept and cried in public. The whole nation seemed to be drenched in a white veil of sorrow. Seldom in our history have we seen such mass outpouring of grief and distress!

And following the same path as trod by Shaheed Zia, and upholding his immortal ideals of patriotism, honesty, religious virtues, and political pluralism, Zia's creation Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was once again returned to power by the people through the 1991 parliamentary election. It happened despite the fact that HM Ershad waged a sustained campaign for long nine years to divide and destroy BNP through any means. In this heinous plot, Ershad was ably assisted by those dubious quarters led by the Awami League who collaborated with him in the rigged elections of 1986 by betraying the nation and who attempted to write off Zia as a mere soldier.

But the common man of Bangladesh had different ideas. They could differentiate between right and wrong, truth and falsehood. They are forever ready to give a fitting reply to those who try to distort history only to serve their own selfish ends. This proved to be repeatedly true when the people of the country firmly rejected the fascist elements in the country's polity and propelled the BNP led by Begum Khaleda Zia to majestic triumphs in the parliamentary elections held under neutral, non-party, caretaker governmentsboth in 1991 and2001.

Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed is a former Editor of 'Bangladesh Quarterly.​