Defence Secretary Lt Gen (r) Syed Athar Ali arrived in New Delhi on Sunday to hold talks with his Indian counterpart on the contentious issue of the Siachen Glacier and other matters. The 12th round of the two-day talks between Pakistan and India would begin on Monday after a gap of four years. It is part of the larger effort by the two sides to resolve outstanding issues between the two arch-rival countries.
The Indian delegation will be led by Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar, Special Secretary RK Mathur, DG Military Operations Lt Gen AM Verma and Surveyor-General S Subba Rao. The Pakistani side is also represented by Maj-Gen Ashfaq Nadeem Ahmed, Maj-Gen Munawar Ahmed Solehri and Maj-Gen (r) Mir Haider Ali Khan. Describing the historical nature of the issue, India’s Defence Ministry said the Cease Fire Line (CFL) and the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir were delineated by the Karachi agreement 1949 and the Shimla agreement 1972 up to point NJ 9842.
“The area beyond this point has remained un-delineated. This has led to different interpretations. The Karachi agreement describes the CFL as being up to point NJ 9842 and mentions that ‘it thereafter lies northwards towards the glaciers.’ Similarly, the Shimla agreement is also silent on the delineation beyond NJ 9842,” it said.On the other hand, Pakistan says the line joins NJ 9842 with Karakoram Pass, which is north-west of NJ 9842. The Indian position is that the line runs towards the glaciers, along the watersheds formed by the Saltoro Range. This is the second time in a month that the service personnel from Pakistan will engage with interlocutors from India.
The Pakistani delegation for the Sir Creek talks also included service personnel from the Navy. The defence-secretary-level talks between the two countries to resolve the Siachen issue date back to 1985, following discussions between former president Gen Muhammad Ziaul Haq and ex-Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi in Oman and New Delhi. The talks became a part of the composite dialogue with Pakistan on all issues, including Kashmir, from the eighth round of talks in August 2004 in New Delhi.