India, Pak talks concludes without any breakthrough on Siachen
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, May 24, IRNA
India-Pak-Siachen Talks
The two-day parley between India and Pakistani officials on Siachen concluded here on Wednesday without reaching on any agreement on demilitarization of the Siachen Glacier as 'differences' continued to persist on authentication of positions held by the armed forces of the two sides on the world's highest battlefield.
The Pakistani side 'is not agreeing to the proposal for authentication of positions (held by the Indian and Pakistani forces) for quite some time and this is the area of difference which can continue ... In this round of discussions, we could not make a breakthrough," Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
He was replying to questions on the outcome of two-day Indo-Pak Defense Secretary level talks on demilitarization of Siachen Glacier, where the Indian and Pakistani armed forces have been observing a ceasefire since 2003.
Indian side was led by Defense Secretary Shekhar Dutt while the Pakistan delegation was headed by Defense Secretary Lt. Gen. (retd) Tariq Waseem Ghazi.
Observing that the existing positions held by the two armed forces needed to be authenticated before the process of withdrawal and re- deployment at designated places started, Mukherjee said the present locations 'before vacating should be delineated and authenticated in a document....'
Mukherjee said, "We are still engaged in discussion and perhaps there can be forward movement in another round of talks. But in this round of discussions we could not make breathrough."
Seeking to implement their understanding on demilitarization of the glacier, the defense secretaries had discussed disengagement and proposals for authentication of the present troop deployment on Siachen.
India is insisting that there should be a proper authentication of present positions held by the two countries in Siachen if the disengagement was to take place.
With Kargil experience fresh in mind, New Delhi maintains that it is not possible for it to 'risk' disengagement unless there is 'clear acceptance of authentication' by Islamabad.
Pakistan has so far refused to accept authentication because of which an agreement has not been possible. Also, without mutual acceptance on authentication, there can be no movement on issues like modalities of disengagement.
New Delhi also wants a back-up of an effective and comprehensive surveillance and monitoring mechanism to be part of the disengagement process.
Meanwhile, India and Pakistan will be engage in another round of talks on demarcating Sir Creek -- the narrow strip of marshland on India's western border -- which begin here Thursday
During the two-day talks on Sir Creek, the Indian side will be led by Surveyor General Maj. Gen. M Gopal Rao and the Pakistan side will be headed by Admiral Ahsan-ul-Haq Chaudhri, additional secretary in the defense ministry.
The discussions on Sir Creek are part of the third round of composite dialogue between India and Pakistan that was launched here early this year after the talks between Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammad Khan.
A joint survey was conducted last year to identify the boundary pillars installed in 1924 by the then authorities of Sindh and Kutch to demarcate the area.
The survey could prove to be the key for determining the exclusive maritime zone off the Gujarat and Karachi coasts, official sources said.
The eighth round of talks to demarcate the strip of marshland that links India's Gujarat coast with Pakistan's Sindh province was held in Islamabad last year.
However, the two countries will hold home secretary-level parleys during May 30-31 in Islamabad on terrorism and drug trafficking.
This will be followed by talks here between culture secretaries on the promotion of friendly exchanges on June 1-2.
2160/2322/1412
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
