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Pak starts pullback

India has served an ultimatum on Pakistan to withdraw its forces well north of the Line of Control in Kargil sector by July 16 morning, failing which military action will continue.

Pakistan accepted this deadline which was agreed upon during the meeting of the director generals of military operation held at the Attari border.

''The withdrawal of Pakistani forces from Kaksar appears to have already taken place. Our troops are proceeding to verify this. We have information that the withdrawal in Mushkoh valley is also underway," an external affairs ministry spokesman said Monday.

The defence ministry said as agreed during the Attari meeting, there will be no air strikes or use of ground weapons while the withdrawal was taking place.

Asked if this amounted to 'safe passage' for the intruders, the spokesman evaded a direct answer. Safe passage, he said, meant providing a specific corridor. In the present case, only a time frame had been laid down for the withdrawal.

About the resumption of India-Pakistan dialogue, the spokesman reiterated that once the withdrawal was completed and Pakistan reaffirmed its respect for the LoC, the suspended dialogue could restart.

He stressed that the continuance of cross border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir was a clear violation of the LoC and must be abandoned by Pakistan.

The Kargil Crisis

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