India's move to reduce its troops in disputed Kashmir this winter could boost peace talks with Pakistan aimed at ending more than a half-century of enmity between the nuclear rivals, Pakistan said Friday. The decision by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is "a step in the right direction," Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said in a statement Friday. "I don't think it will be a very substantive reduction in troops, but it's a good move and Pakistan's Foreign Office has responded promptly." Singh said Thursday that because of a decline in separatist violence in India's portion of Kashmir, some Indian forces would be withdrawn until March. He warned he would redeploy soldiers if rebel attacks increased. "Reduction of Indian troops in (Indian-held Kashmir) can reinforce the process of dialogue and confidence-building between Pakistan and India," Foreign Office spokesman Khan said.
