Indian Defence Minister AK Antony on Wednesday said that New Delhi would insist on proper authentication by Pakistan of troop positions in Siachen before any disengagement was undertaken, and cautioned against expecting any “dramatic” result from the next round of talks in June on the vexed issue. Antony said in the Rajya Sabha, Upper House of parliament, 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 would 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 clear that India was keen on authentication and had “not changed the position”, he said, “it is the national position, not the government’s position. We took the position after considering the decision.”