Indian vets to be redeployed as security guards in Kashmir

Military veterans will be redeployed as security guards in Indian-administered Kashmir, New Delhi said on Saturday, a week after it reached a ceasefire with Pakistan to end their most serious conflict in decades.

Around 70 people were killed in the violence, which was sparked by an attack on tourists by gunmen in Indian-administered Kashmir last month that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing -- a charge it denies.

The government of Jammu and Kashmir approved a "proposal for mobilizing Ex-Servicemen (ESM) to safeguard vital infrastructure across the Union Territory," according to a government press release.

Around 4,000 veterans have been "identified" as non-combatant volunteers, out of which 435 have licensed personal weapons, it said.

This will help by "significantly enhancing the capacity to respond effectively to localized security situations", the government added.

Veterans will work in "static guard" roles, focusing on "presence-based deterrence and local coordination".

India already has an estimated half a million soldiers permanently deployed in the contested region that has been at the heart of several wars between the nuclear-armed neighbors, who administer separate portions of the divided territory.

Rebels in India's Jammu and Kashmir have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.

Fighting had decreased since 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government revoked the territory's partial autonomy and imposed direct control from New Delhi.

But last year, thousands of additional troops, including special forces, were deployed across the territory's mountainous south following a series of deadly rebel attacks that had left more than 50 soldiers dead in three years.

A similar veteran volunteer program took place with 2,500 veterans during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the government.