Pakistan and India will begin their two-day talks in New Delhi today (Monday) to resolve their maritime boundary dispute in the Sir Creek region but the diplomatic circles here see no chance of any ‘breakthrough’ in these vital negotiations.
The talks on the Sir Creek issue between officials from the defence ministries of the two sides are being held a week after the inconclusive talks on another important matter, that of Siachen glacier, the world highest battlefield.
Sir Creek is a 96-km strip of water that is disputed between India and Pakistan in the Rann of Kutch marshlands. The creek, which opens up into the Arabian Sea, divides the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat with the Sindh province of Pakistan.
The long-standing dispute lies in the actual demarcation from the mouth of Sir Creek to the top of Sir Creek and from the top of Sir Creek eastward to a point on the line designated on the Western end. From this point onwards, the boundary is unambiguously fixed.
The Indo-Pak talks on Sir Creek were initially scheduled for mid-May this year but were postponed as according to diplomatic circles Pakistan wanted Siachen to be discussed first and see how far New Delhi was serious in resolving the issue.
“Since, India doesn’t show any flexibility in its stance on Siachen demilitarisation by sticking to its demand of authentication of troops’ current positions before any withdrawal so it is most likely that we will see unsuccessful Indo-Pak talks on Sir Creek too during the two-day meeting on this vital matter in New Delhi,” said a diplomatic source seeking anonymity.
Pakistan and India held their last meeting on Sir Creek in Rawalpindi on May 20 and 21 last year, which was led by Surveyor General of India S Subba Rao and Pakistan Defence Ministry’s Additional Secretary Rear Admiral Shah Sohail Masood.
According to the source, the two sides would move forward with their talks now on the important matter on the basis of “non-papers” that they had exchanged in their last meeting.
He said India had proposed a “mid-stream formula” in its proposal then to resolve the dispute while Pakistan had proposed that the line of delineation should be to the “east of the Creek”, which effectively meant that the Sir Creek would be in Pakistan’s area. A Pakistani official, when contacted said Sir Creek was a matter that could be resolved easily as compared to other issues and all that was needed from the Indian side was some flexibility on this issue and the rest of conflicting matters.