India should maintain massive troop levels in its part of divided Kashmir even though the daily death toll from a Muslim insurgency has fallen to an all-time low, a senior official said yesterday.

"The daily rate of killings of civilians, security personnel and militants has dropped from 10 in 2002 to three in 2006 (and) two a day lately," Jammu and Kashmir state governor Sriniwas Kumar Sinha said in a statement.

Police officials told AFP that the current average daily toll was the lowest since the start of the Muslim revolt against Indian rule in 1989.

The governor said the security situation in Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan, was improving -- but asserted "the guard cannot be lowered as the threat of violence continues."

"Once peace returns in the state, the forces can return back to their barracks," he said.

India has an estimated half a million troops and paramilitary soldiers in Kashmir, the cause of two of the three wars between India and Pakistan since their 1947 independence from the British.

With violence down thanks to a peace process between the South Asian rivals, Pakistan and separatists have linked the region's demilitarisation to lasting peace.

But India's army opposes an early withdrawal of troops, saying this could help the rebels whom it says operate with Pakistan's support. Islamabad denies the charge.

According to official figures, the insurgency has left more than 42,000 people dead. Human rights groups put the toll at 70,000, including 10,000 people who have disappeared since 1989 and are presumed dead.