Indian Defence Minister said late Tuesday that New Delhi would insist on proper authentication by Pakistan of the troop positions in Siachen before any disengagement is undertaken and cautioned against expecting any “dramatic” result from the next round of talks in June on the vexed issue.
A K Antony said in the Rajya Sabha that India stood by its stand on authentication and had neither hardened nor softened its position.
“Some people have said we are hardening our position on Siachen, some say we have softened the position. We have neither hardened nor softened our position. We are standing where we were,” he said, replying to a debate on the functioning of the Defence Ministry.
While informing the House that the 13th round of Defence Secretary-level talks on Siachen will take place in the second week of next month, Antony said during the last round Pakistan had refused to authenticate the troop positions of the two countries but India insisted on it.
“Don’t expect dramatic results from the next round of talks. It is a complicated issue,” he said.
Making it clear that India was keen on authentication and had “not changed the position”, he said, “it is the national position, not government position. We took the position after considered decision.”
When a Defence Minister states his country's standpoint as clearly as above what are the talks going to be about? Restating the calcified position?. It is a recipe for failure!
A new word called authentication has cropped up. It is the same thing as L.O.C. Are we willing to accept it? It would be a shame to the memory of our soldiers who died for a cause. It would amount to capitulation!
What else would you do when the Indian forces have occupied the top of the glacier which is the saltoro ridge. India have the military might and the technological edge to fight and occupy such a place. They are so good that they are training all other armies of the world over at siachen, people going to antarctic and arctic get trained from the Indian army at Siachen with respect to survival in hostile conditions!!!
There is no alternative but to concede. It will not matter even if Pakistan army try for ages, Indian army will not budge from the place.
I understand your point of view. History is full of examples where one gives in
the face of overwhelming odds only to face more challenges in future! How long will we consent to be dictated?. Shall we sign a treaty of Versailles?
I don't know which countries you are refering to who send their armies to train at Siachin. I live in Scandinavia where British soldiers train in Winters.
Both India and Pakistan armies were not trained to fight in the godforsaken area but the indians as usual had done there home work well and since then we are doing catch up. A natural disaster has got us down but that is no excuse to appease. I would rather have international observers. Forget the "mumbo jumbo"
about the peace Park at siachin. Wake up and guard your borders!
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