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| Sunday, 8 August 2004 |
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India, Pakistan end talks on Kashmir glacier NEW DELHI, Saturday (AFP) India and Pakistan wrapped up two days of high-level talks Friday on ways to demilitarise a strategic glacier in disputed Kashmir and agreed to meet again to discuss the issue. "The two defence secretaries agreed to continue their discussions with a view to resolving the Siachen issue in a peaceful manner," a joint statement issued at the end of the talks in New Delhi said. The statement did not specify a date for the resumption of talks over the 20,700-foot (6,300-metre) glacier where more troops have died of frostbite and altitude sickness than in fighting. Siachen, known as the world's highest battlefield, is located in a remote area of Kashmir, which is held in part by nuclear rivals India and Pakistan but claimed in full by both. The two countries, which have fought three wars since their 1947 independence and came close to a fourth in 2002, said they held "frank and candid discussions ... aimed at taking the process forward." The meeting between Pakistani Defence Secretary Hamid Nawaz Khan and his Indian counterpart Ajai Vikram Singh were the first high-level talks over the glacier in seven years, it said. "Both sides assessed positively the ceasefire that has been in effect since 25 November 2003," it said. "The military experts of the two sides also met to discuss modalities for disengagement and redeployment of troops, and agreed to have further discussions," the statement said. Officials attending the talks said the Pakistani side called for a pullback of troops to the level of the ceasefire reached after the last full-fledged war between India and Pakistan in 1971. The Indian army holds vantage points on the 72-kilometre (45-mile) long Siachen glacier, with Pakistani troops at lower positions, and does not want the demilitarisation of the glacier to be linked to the dispute over Kashmir, the cause of two of the three wars between the countries. Mutual mistrust has so far blocked attempts to demilitarise the frigid wasteland. Indian foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna, meanwhile, said India and Pakistan Friday launched separate talks in New Delhi on a maritime dispute which has festered for decades. Tensions over Sir Creek spiralled in 1999 when Indian jets shot down a Pakistani patrol plane and Pakistan retaliated by firing missiles at Indian helicopters over the disputed territory - an area of water with access to the sea between India's Gujarat state and Pakistan's Sindh province. India also said Friday separate talks with Pakistan on the issue of cross-border terrorism and drug trafficking will be held on August 9. "(Home Secretary Dhirendra) Singh is expected to convey India's worries over cross-border terrorism and infiltration and also infrastructure facilities being given to terrorist groups in Pakistan," an interior ministry official said. New Delhi says Pakistan-based Islamic militants are operating in Indian Kashmir despite the ongoing peace process between the two countries. Islamabad denies supporting the insurgency, describing the rebellion as the Kashmiris' struggle for self-rule. |
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