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| Breakthrough on Siachen unlikely-report | | |
Islamabad, Oct 23
Pakistan and India will discuss the demilitarisation of the Siachen glacier during the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks in mid-November but chances of a breakthrough seem slim, reports here said.
''There are, however, no chances of a likely breakthrough due to persistent opposition to a pact on the vital issue by India’s defence establishment,'' the Nation today reported, citing senior officials.
The defence secretary-level talks between Pakistan and India on demilitarising the Siachen glacier, held in May this year, had also ended in a stalemate despite high expectations from both the quarters.
It was the Indian defence authorities that opposed the Siachen agreement at that time and it has been continuing with this till this day, the report cited diplomatic sources as saying.
On a political level, both sides had agreed to demilitarise the world's highest battlefield but ''influential defence hawks in New Delhi and strategic compulsions of the Indian Air Force'' led to vehement oppositon against such a move, they alleged.
''The Indian Air Force has a very important airfield in the snowy region and it believes that it would lose the advantage of strategic insight over Pakistan in case of troop’ withdrawal,'' they claimed.
According to a source, both sides have now agreed to enter into broad discussions during the forthcoming Foreign Secretaries’ meeting slated for November 14-15 in a bid to pave way for a pact to reach a consensus on the fate of the glacier.
Pakistan has offered 'possible measures' on its part to reach the demilitarisation accord and it now remains to be seen whether India comes up with any positive response or not, the source added.
India, however, has consistently stated that it will not pull its troops back from their current position on the glacier until Pakistan agrees to validate its present position on the glacier.
Pakistan, on the other hand, believes that recognition of Indian positions would be a de facto surrender of its claim over the territory.
According to the sources, the two neighbours could do away with their differences in a single meeting, provided the Indian defence establishment ends its opposition to the troops’ withdrawal by both sides.
They said both countries had maintained troop positions on the ridges for over 20 years and the warriors of Pakistan and India had been locked in supremacy for the control of the glacier where its inhospitable terrain had taken heavy toll of men and resources on both sides.
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