ISLAMABAD, 28 May 2005 — Pakistan and India said yesterday they had agreed to continue talks about their standoff over the Siachen Glacier, the world’s highest battlefield, but announced no concrete progress after two days of discussions.
Officials from both countries met in the city of Rawalpindi adjoining Islamabad after Pakistani calls for demilitarization of Siachen, where rival troops face each other in extremely inhospitable conditions.
“The two sides held frank and constructive discussions with a view to taking the process forward,” a joint statement said. “They express satisfaction at the cease-fire currently in place since November 2003 and agreed to its continuation ... It was agreed by the two defense secretaries to continue with their discussions to resolve the Siachen issue in a peaceful manner,” the statement added.
“We have exchanged ideas and have tried to understand one another’s position and there were discussions that we have carried out and we will continue to carry them forward,” Pakistani Defense Secretary Tariq Waseem Ghazi said.
His counterpart, Ajai Vikram Singh, said the talks had been held in a cordial atmosphere and a personal understanding had developed between the two sides.
“All that is definitely a movement forward,” he said, adding that various possibilities had been discussed for the first time. “So therefore, there has definitely been movement,” he said.
Neither official elaborated on the nature of the discussions. The talks are part of a broader slow-moving peace process aimed ultimately at resolving the neighbors’ dispute over the divided Himalayan state of Kashmir, of which Siachen is a part.
The Indian delegation floated new proposals including the freezing of positions, measures for providing relief to soldiers in the harsh region and a commitment from both sides not to expand their military positions, a Pakistani source said.
“But Pakistan wants a complete withdrawal of troops from the heights, while India insisted on authentication of military positions, and it was not acceptable to us,” the source added.
Pakistan has been reluctant to submit to this as it says India took the ground through aggression. The talks will be followed at the weekend by two days of talks on demarcation of Sir Creek, an Arabian Sea estuary.
The peace process begun in early 2004 has moved slowly, but a meeting in New Delhi between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in April fed hopes.
