ISLAMABAD, 18 September 2005 — Islamabad and New Delhi have agreed in principle to demilitarize the Siachen glacier after discussing in detail the vital issue through “informal” diplomatic channels during the last two months, diplomatic sources said.
The sources said that earlier the two sides could not settle this vital issue on composite dialogue agenda because of India’s insistence on authentication of troops’ present positions.
However, after several rounds of so-called secret diplomacy, the two countries had been able to overcome their differences on demilitarization to a great extent, they added.
In the coming days, discussion both at formal and informal level would be on to formalize an agreement on troops withdrawal from the glacier, they said, adding that the accord could be announced during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Pakistan, likely to take place in October.
A source here said that Manmohan was keen to convert the world’s highest battlefield into a “mountain of peace.”
Pakistan and Indian troops have been in a state of confrontation since 1984 in Siachen, a 76-km-long block of ice at heights of over 6,000 m.
The Siachen standoff is one of the eight issues covered under the ongoing composite dialogue process the two countries initiated early last year to resolve their outstanding bilateral issues including Kashmir.
Pakistani media yesterday said Pakistan-India relations are firmly on course and “to-ing and fro-ing on Kashmir” is only to be expected but “should not be a cause for despondency”.
The media was yesterday commenting on the meeting between Musharraf and Manmohan in New York this week.
“Pessimism over the fact that the discussions didn’t make visible progress would be misplaced,” The News said in an editorial headlined “They didn’t fail, however”.
It also pointed to a development in Islamabad, unrelated to the Sept. 14 talks between the two leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit, — of the announcement the same day that a ferry service would begin between Karachi and Bombay.
“In short, visible progress or not, Pakistani-Indian relations are firmly on course after the summit. Before the talks it had been a case of our keeping our fingers crossed, anyway, with no one having predicted a breakthrough, as before (during) the Agra summit of July 2001,” the newspaper noted. “Let’s be grateful for the fact that there was no failure, although that
hadn’t been expected, either.
“It would be useful to remember that after the two countries’ relations plummeted in the follow-up to Agra, the very fact that (then Indian prime minister) Mr. (Atal Behari) Vajpayee agreed to meet Gen. Musharraf during the 56th General Assembly had been greeted with relief in Pakistan,” The News said.
“It (Sept. 14 talks) had been billed as an important meeting taking place at the sidelines of the 60th UN General Assembly. However, it turned out to be a summit, a marathon of four hours, half-an-hour of which was an exclusive discussion between the two leaders,” it noted.
Dawn newspaper said a positive outcome of the New York meeting was Manmohan Singh agreeing to visit Pakistan, which is likely to happen Oct 3.
“The summit has produced mixed results. Those who were hoping that new confidence-building measures, especially a reduction in the Indian military presence in Kashmir, would be announced have been disappointed.
“But the positive aspect of the meeting was that the Indian prime minister has agreed to visit Pakistan soon and the joint statement issued on the occasion confirmed the commitment of the two sides to ensure a peaceful settlement of all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, and to pursue all possible options in this regard,” the newspaper said in an editorial titled “Summit in New York”.
— Additional input from IANS
