India and Pakistan have reaffirmed their resolve to seek an amicable solution to the Siachen issue but no consensus could be arrived at during the recent defense secretary-level talks between the two nations, government sources said Wednesday. The 13th round of Siachen talks between the defense secretaries of India and Pakistan was held at Rawalpindi in Pakistan on 11-12 June. “The sequence of steps to resolve the issue was discussed. No consensus could be arrived at. Both sides reaffirmed their resolve to seek an amicable solution,” Defense Minister A K Antony told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
During the talks, the Indian side was led by Defense Secretary Shashikant Sharma while Pakistan was represented by its Defense Secretary Nargis Sethi. Indian and Pakistani troops have been engaged in a standoff on Siachen, described as the world’s highest and coldest battlefield, since 1984. In 2003, the two countries put in place a ceasefire along the frontiers in Jammu and Kashmir but reportedly more troops have died on the glacier due to the adverse weather than combat.
