Indo-Pak deadlock over Siachen
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 6 — Deadlock on the Siachen issue between India and Pakistan continued, with Islamabad today rejecting New Delhi’s proposal of a comprehensive ceasefire in the area as a first step towards paving the way for redeployment and disengagement of troops in the highest battlefield of the world where firing has been going on for quite some time.

While the Pakistan side accused India of going back on an agreement, which Islamabad claimed was arrived in 1989, India categorically denied that any such agreement was concluded between the two sides.

Briefing newspersons after three hours of talks, the Defence Secretary, Mr Ajit Kumar, said "To tell you frankly, we were a little disappointed that Pakistan outrightly rejected our ceasefire proposal. However, since the process of dialogue has started we are hopeful that Pakistan will see reason".

A joint statement issued after the talks said: "It was agreed to continue discussions on the issue during the next round of dialogue process."

The Pakistani Defence Secretary, Lt Gen (Retd) Iftikhar Ali Khan, told reporters: "It is a difficult and complex situation. It will take time."

Asked if any progress had been made on de-escalation of tension in the area, Gen Khan said "we are working towards everything".

On whether there was convergence of views, he said "hopefully this will happen in due course of time".

"The two sides stated their respective positions on the issue. It was agreed to continue discussions on the issue in the next round of the dialogue process", Mr Ajit Kumar said.

The Indian approach during the recently concluded discussions on Siachen has been characterised by its earnest desire to have peace and tranquillity in the Siachen area and to put an end to the hostilities, Mr Kumar said.

"With the above in mind, we have proposed an agreement on ceasing fire in Siachen. Such a step, in our view, would immediately defuse tensions and the atmosphere of confrontation in the area. We have also proposed additional steps such as discussions of the modalities of implementation of the ceasefire and authentication of the existing ground position in the area so as to ensure an effective implementation of the ceasefire", Mr Kumar said adding that "after these essential steps, discussions could take place on other aspects of the issue such as disengagement or redeployment".

Asked how the Pakistani side had reacted to this offer, the Defence Secretary said Pakistan’s view was that the ceasefire would be unsuccessful if it was not monitored by a third party. India was not at all in favour of the ceasefire being monitored by a third party as it was a bilateral issue as per the Simla agreement, he said.

"There have been six rounds of talks and this was the seventh. There has been a linear progression and each one has been one step further. In 1992 certain modalities were agreed upon but in 1994 in our reply to our non-paper (which a paper on further discussion can take place), Pakistan categorically stated no agreement had been reached", Mr Kumar said in reply to a question whether an agreement was arrived at in 1989.

Explaining India’s position, Mr Kumar said:" The Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, demarcated following the Simla Agreement, extends up to point NJ 9842.The areas North and East of NJ 9842 have always been under our administrative control and our troops were located at Daulat Beg Oldi, Sasoma and Zingrulma. The Siachen area and the area up to the Karakoram pass was patrolled regularly since 1950s."

"Pakistan deliberately encouraged activities such as granting illegal permission to mountaineering expeditions. Further Pakistani maps surfaced with the unacceptable arbitrary line from the grid reference NJ 9842 to the Karakoram pass without any basis in law, tradition or fact. By late 1983, Pakistan had flown air photo missions, acquired special snow clothing and had plans to induct specially trained and equipped forces for the military occupation of the Siachen area. Under these circumstances, India had, by 1984, no option but to secure its position in an area historically under its control in a state that in its entirety is its integral part."

When asked whether India brought up the cessation of an area to China by Pakistan, Mr Kumar replied in affirmative saying that we have raised the issue.

To a question on Pakistan’s contention that there have been no firing and hostilities in Siachen, Lt Gen I.K. Verma, Director General Military Operations, said " this was somewhat strange and bizarre". "There have been daily firings and daily attempts, sometime at nights too, to capture our posts", Lt Gen Verma said.

This is the second successive day when the two countries have failed to make any progress on identified outstanding issues. The two countries had failed to achieve any breakthrough on the dispute over the Tulbul navigation project in Jammu and Kashmir.

Before the start of the talks, the 12-member Pakistani Defence team called on the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, and had a 40-minute meeting.

The joint statement said: "As part of the composite and integrated dialogue process between India and Pakistan on the basis of the agreed agenda of the joint statement of June 23, 1997, discussions were held on the Siachen issue".

The statement, which was almost a repeat of the one issued yesterday on the Tulbul navigation project, said "discussions were held in a frank and cordial atmosphere".

The parleys were held in the backdrop of about eight futile attempts during the past fortnight by Pakistan to capture Indian Army posts in the glacier flanked by the high mountain ranges of Saltoro and Karakoram.

The Siachen issue figured in all major parleys between India and Pakistan since 1986. Specific talks on Siachen were last held in 1992.

During the nine-day discussions, the other issues are Sir Creek maritime boundary dispute, terrorism and drug trafficking and cultural exchanges between the two nations.

Besides Gen Khan, the Pakistani team included the High Commissioner, Mr Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Director-General (Military Operation), Major Gen Tanqir Zia, Additional Secretary in Foreign Ministry, Mr Tariq Altaf, and Additional Secretary in Defence Ministry, Major Gen Jamshed Malik.

The Indian side included Director-General (Military Operations), Lt Gen Inder Verma, and Joint Secretaries — Mr Vivek Katju, Mr A.K. Sain, Mr R.S. Jassal — Additional Director-General (Military Operations), Major Gen J.J. Singh, Deputy Directors-General (Military Operations), Brig Rakesh Dass and Brig M.C. Bhandari, and Deputy Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad, Mr Sharat Sabharwal.

The Siachen boundary dispute was added to the roster of major issues in Indo-Pak relations for the first time in April 1984 when India moved in to seal a historic access route in remote Jammu and Kashmir south of China following reports that Pakistan was shifting its troops to that area.

Between January 1986 and June 1989, India and Pakistan held five rounds of talks over the glacier. At the fifth round of talks in Rawalpindi in June 1989, India made a six-point offer while Pakistan made two essential points. However, an agreement on the issue remained elusive even in 1992.

A fresh initiative was launched after the meetings between Prime Ministers Atal Behari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif at Colombo and New York following which the composite talks were resumed.