On non-compact $p$-adic definable groups

Peterzil and Steinhorn proved that if a group $G$ definable in an $o$-minimal structure is not definably compact, then $G$ contains a definable torsion-free subgroup of dimension one. We prove here a $p$-adic analogue of the Peterzil-Steinhorn theorem, in the special case of abelian groups. Let $G$ be an abelian group definable in a $p$-adically closed field $M$. If $G$ is not definably compact then there is a definable subgroup $H$ of dimension one which is not definably compact. In a future paper we will generalize this to non-abelian $G$.