ISLAMABAD, 16 November 2004 — After holding intense diplomatic efforts, Pakistan and India are most likely to reach an agreement on troop withdrawal from the Siachen glacier, the world’s highest battlefield, official sources said yesterday.

They said since the talks between the defense secretaries of Pakistan and India on Siachen in August this year, both the sides have been using secret diplomatic channels to reach an accord on troop withdrawal from Siachen.

“This secret diplomacy has proved to be very successful in terms of results and the recent announcement from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reduce troops in Kashmir is a concrete evidence of this fact,” a source said.

According to sources, the defense secretaries, along with military officials, would now meet again to sort out the details of troop withdrawal to the 1972 positions, which were identified by the two sides when they clinched the Simla Agreement.

“The foreign secretaries will also deliberate upon this matter in their proposed meeting most likely to be held on Dec. 21-22 and they would decide about the dates for the defense secretaries’ meeting,” an official said.

The two defense secretaries, in their talks held on Aug. 5-6 this year, decided to continue with the talks on Siachen issue while predicting a positive outcome of the negotiations.

Pakistan and India had a dialogue on Siachen in the past as well and it went on over six rounds between 1986 and 1992. However, according to sources, due to the intransigence of Indian establishment, the issue could not be resolved and both the sides could not reach at what was said to be an almost certain agreement back in 90s.

The Siachen issue came to the surface back in 1984 when India stationed its troops in area while blaming Pakistan for sending mountaineering expeditions to the glacier.

Pakistan objected to this move on the part of New Delhi, saying it was violating the NJ 9842 line that both the sides agreed to after the Simla Agreement in 1972 and posted its own troops on Siachen, to counter the possible enemy aggression.

It has been an old demand by Pakistan that India should withdraw its forces to the 1972 position, the sources said, adding that India has not been responsive to this demand before the commencement of ongoing peace process.

The sources said with the troops withdrawal from the snowy battleground both the sides would be in a position to avert colossal financial loss worth millions of dollars due to what they said the most costly warfare expenditure.

National Security Council May Meet This Month

The Wana operation and internal security will figure high on the agenda of the second meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) likely to be held on Nov. 25.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) Chairman, Gen. Ehsanul Haq, and the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. Ahsan Salim Hayat, will attend the meeting for the first time after assuming their new offices early last month. A day after the NSC session, President General Pervez Musharraf, who heads the body and chairs its meetings, will embark on a five-nation tour to Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, France and Britain.

The meeting was supposed to be held last month, but due to president’s preoccupation abroad, it called off.