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| Pak says it will not occupy Siachen if India pulls out | | | ISLAMABAD, FEB 9
An agreement on demilitarisation of Siachen appeared "imminent" with Pakistan assuring India that its forces would not occupy the glacier if Indian troops pull out from there, a media report said today.
Pakistan has given an assurance to India through diplomatic channels that it has no hidden motives and will not make any attempt to occupy the glacier, The Nation newspaper quoted Pakistani officials as saying.
"This assurance has been conveyed to India to give way to a breakthrough on the vital issue," it quoted an official as saying.
There was no immediate official confirmation of the report.
Islamabad has told New Delhi that any fears and concerns on its part that the snowy mountainous region, if vacated by the Indian troops, could be captured by the Pakistani troops are unfounded, the unnamed official said.
He said that despite an "imminent breakthrough" an announcement in this would be made only during the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Pakistan which was yet to be fixed.
He said that India was likely to come forward to clinch an agreement on demilitarisation of Siachen Glacier.
India has been insisting on "iron clad" authentication of current troop positions of the two countries as it is wary of a repeat of 1999 Kargil experience when Pakistani troops captured the mountain heights vacated by India in winter.
However, Pakistan has refused to do so on the grounds that it would be tantamount to validating what it calls illegal Indian occupation of glacier in 1984. |
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