Description: While attending the Shangri – La Defense Summit, Pakistan’s, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chairman of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that a substantial military withdrawal has begun between Pakistan and India across all border regions. The countries were set upon a collision course due to the terrorist attack in the Pahalgam province which India blamed on Pakistani sponsored terrorist groups. The conflict escalated for a month, until backchanneled talks mediated by the US, yielded results and the confronting sides agreed to a ceasefire. General Mirza stated that Pakistan has begun its troop withdrawal from almost every region which marked a significant military buildup in the weeks where military tensions were at their highest. Official response from the Indian counterparts wasn’t solicitated although Pakistani military officials have stated that India followed suit and reciprocally withdrew troops from the regions which started the reduction.
Impact: The troop withdrawal marks a significant development in India – Pakistan bilateral relations and sustainably enriches the ceasefire agreement. The disputed regions between the two countries saw considerable military buildup in recent months with the reduction of troops contributing to the longevity of the ceasefire agreement and setting the basis for a permanent peace resolution. The troop reduction also represents a potential vulnerability as the power vacuum in the border regions could be exploited by various militant and terrorist groups looking to escalate tensions and incite armed confrontation between the Pakistani and Indian militaries. India hasn’t officially responded to Pakistan de-escalation which can also stipulate the country’s adversarial stance towards the ceasefire and the lack of bilateral trust. Tensions are currently low, which indicates that both countries are heavily invested in making the ceasefire ground zero for peace negotiations going forward.