The Hindu : International / India & World : No progress on Sir Creek

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 30, 2005

International

International - India & World

No progress on Sir Creek

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Both sides agree to meet later to carry forward the talks

ISLAMABAD: The Sir Creek talks between India and Pakistan to resolve differences over the coastal strip off the Gujarat coast ended on Sunday without any forward movement.

A brief joint press statement issued at the end of talks in Rawalpindi between the Indian delegation headed by the Additional Surveyor-General M. Gopal Rao, andtheAdditional Secretary of Pakistan's Ministry of Defence, Ahsan-ul-Haq Chaudhry, said that both sides had agreed to meet at a later date to carry forward the talks.

"The talks were held in a frank and cordial atmosphere. The two sides exchanged views on various issues involved. The two sides agreed to continue their discussions aimed at an early resolution of the issue for the mutual benefit of the two countries," it said.

According to official sources, India asked Pakistan to accept the land delineation on the basis of the joint survey carried out in January, but Pakistani officials said they had not yet analysed the technical aspects of the survey. Pakistan also maintained that demarcation of the land and maritime boundary at Sir Creek needed to be addressed as one package.

Eighth round

This is the eighth round of talks on the subject and the second under the current round of the composite dialogue process. There were expectations of progress this time as the two sides conducted a joint survey of the disputed marshy creek in January to determine the pillars installed in 1925 to settle the dispute between then rulers of Rann of Kutch and Sindh.

The disputed Sir Creek, which runs along the Rann of Kutch in India and Sindh in Pakistan, is at the centre of a 22-year-old dispute between the two countries. The demarcation of boundary has been a bone of contention for several decades.

The history of the issue dates back to 1914, when an agreement was signed between the then Government of Sindh and Rao Maharaj of Kutch. According to the agreement, both sides agreed to a boundary line running through the middle of the creek as a border between the two States.

One side of the creek is under Pakistan's control whereas there are naval installations of India on the other side. Pakistan claims that all the 17 creeks of Sindh coast belong to it, while India maintains that almost half of the area of Sir Creek, the 17th one, belongs to it.

The Indian contention is that the "green line" was simply an indicative line, and that the boundary line should be defined by "mid-channel" of the creek as shown on the map of 1925. But Pakistan rejects the Indian view on the ground that the notion of "mid-channel" is applicable only to navigable channels while this channel is not a navigable one.

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No progress on Sir Creek