ISLAMABAD: The External Affairs Minister of India and his Pakistani counterpart on Monday exchanged views on Siachen and Sir Creek which could "open up possibilities" during the third round of the composite dialogue slated to begin in January.

Disclosing this at a news conference here, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan maintained that the views exchanged between the two Ministers could be part of the joint statement to be issued on Tuesday after formal talks between Natwar Singh and Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri to mark revival of the India-Pakistan Joint Commission after a gap of 16 years.

No details

But Mr. Khan refused to spell out details of the stand taken by Mr. Kasuri and Mr. Singh on Siachen and Sir Creek on the plea that it would be unfair to speak about the possible details of the joint statement.

At a separate press briefing, Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said while so far there was no agreement between the two sides on modalities for demilitarisation of Siachen Glacier, efforts were on to find ways and means to promote progress on the subject.

Mr. Saran recalled that during the April visit of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to India, both sides had agreed that Siachen and Sir Creek should be addressed on a "priority basis" and the quest by the two Foreign Ministers towards resolution of the two was in line with the understanding.

Observations made by Mr. Khan on a way forward on Siachen assume significance in the backdrop of the build-up by Islamabad during the recent visit of Gen. Musharraf to New York that the resolution of Siachen was on the horizon.

Both sides are agreed in principle to move troops from the Siachen Glacier in accordance with the 1989 understanding. There is no forward movement on the understanding due to differences on its interpretation. While India insists that withdrawal of troops would have to be preceded by certification of existing positions under the control of both sides, Pakistan argues that the demilitarisation has to be unconditional.

It is against this deadlock that the two Foreign Ministers in their informal interaction exchanged views on ways and means to ensure withdrawal of forces from Siachen beyond the stated positions of both sides.

Mr. Khan also showed the same degree of optimism on resolution of the Kashmir issue.

In response to persistent questions from Pakistani journalists about the basis for such optimism when India had ruled out territorial changes, he said: "When we think out of the box, there are many possibilities. The world has changed".

"Considerable progress"

Mr. Saran said that while "considerable progress" had been made in the composite dialogue, Pakistan must control terrorism so that the peace process was not derailed.

He said India had been hearing "welcome assurances" from Pakistan about addressing the issue of terrorism and extremism in its country. "But we have to see the situation on the ground," he said.

"So as long as the phenomena of infiltration continues and phenomena of terrorist violence continues, this is going to be an issue between our two countries because the peace process that is taking place can be derailed if any major terrorist incident takes place," he said.

India maintained that the Kashmir issue needed to be dealt with from a humanitarian angle for which it had forwarded a number of proposals, including allowing greater flow of people across the LoC, establishing trade ties between two parts of the State and setting up meeting points for divided families.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail