Pakistan on Tuesday renewed its offer to demilitarize the disputed Kashmir region, and asked India to decrease troops in its controlled part of Kashmir.

"Pakistan has already proposed demilitarization in Kashmir valley and at least India should decrease its forces from the urban areas in order to reduce human rights violations," Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam told a weekly briefing in Islamabad.

"Spirit behind the peace talks with India is to resolve all disputes between the two countries, particularly Kashmir, and we are optimistic that there will be forward movement in the dialogue process in the right direction," she said.

She expressed hope that with forward movement toward the resolution of disputes, tension between the two countries would also be reduced and it would also result in reduction in arms race.

However, she said Pakistan's missile tests would continue as a part of maintaining minimum deterrence and balance of power.

"Pakistan and India have no coveted diplomacy to resolve Kashmir issue, but they are engaged in interaction at different levels to settle down the issue which include diplomatic and back channel diplomacy and the dialogue process," she said.

The spokesperson said Indian leaders had admitted that infiltration level had been reduced in Kashmir and subsequently Pakistan believes that human rights violations would also come down in the Valley.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2006)