rkjindal91
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Defence secys fail to break Siachen ice May 31, 2011, 01.20am IST TNN NEW DELHI: The ice on the forbidding
glacier heights is not going to melt
anytime soon. With Pakistan dragging its
feet on providing clear-cut guarantees for
authentication of the 110-km Actual
Ground Position Line (AGPL) in the Saltoro Ridge-Siachen region, no significant
breakthrough is on the cards in the
festering bilateral dispute. India and Pakistan on Monday began their
12th round of defence secretary-level
talks on the Siachen imbroglio after a gap
of three years, with the two sides
presenting their own perceptions" of the issue. Official sources described the talks, led by
defence secretary Pradeep Kumar and his
Pakistani counterpart Lt-General (retd)
Syed Ather Ali, as constructive", which will lead to a joint statement on Tuesday. The fact, however, remains that the two
sides will have to travel a long distance
before there is disengagement and
redeployment of troops on the world's
highest, coldest and costliest battlefield
to create a zone of demilitarization". The modalities'' for the AGPL authentication remains the main bone of
contention. India wants proper
guarantees for it, both on the maps and
the ground, because its troops occupy
most of the dominating" posts on the Saltoro Ridge. After the 1999 Kargil incursion
experience and in the backdrop of
Chinese presence in
Kashmir, India does not want to vacate
the heights because if Pakistani troops
occupy them, it will be next to impossible to dislodge them. Pakistan has been dilly-dallying on the
matter, and in the past has demanded
that the pre-1972 troop positions be
recognised since it feels India violated'' the Simla Agreement by occupying the
heights in 1984. Both sides have long accepted the need to
demilitarize the glacial heights, with
soldiers deployed at heights ranging from
16,000 to 22,000 feet in extreme weather
and terrain. India has told Pakistan that it
is flexible on the methodology to be adopted for verification of the proposed
demilitarized zone but would insist on some map coordinates, obtained through
aerial or satellite imagery, to show the
relative positions on the ground". India is in no hurry to vacate its posts. The
Indian Army no longer bleeds heavily as it
used to in the earlier years after it pre-
empted Pakistan's Operation Ababeel'' to occupy the heights in April 1984 by just
one day with its own Operation Meghdoot''.
glacier heights is not going to melt
anytime soon. With Pakistan dragging its
feet on providing clear-cut guarantees for
authentication of the 110-km Actual
Ground Position Line (AGPL) in the Saltoro Ridge-Siachen region, no significant
breakthrough is on the cards in the
festering bilateral dispute. India and Pakistan on Monday began their
12th round of defence secretary-level
talks on the Siachen imbroglio after a gap
of three years, with the two sides
presenting their own perceptions" of the issue. Official sources described the talks, led by
defence secretary Pradeep Kumar and his
Pakistani counterpart Lt-General (retd)
Syed Ather Ali, as constructive", which will lead to a joint statement on Tuesday. The fact, however, remains that the two
sides will have to travel a long distance
before there is disengagement and
redeployment of troops on the world's
highest, coldest and costliest battlefield
to create a zone of demilitarization". The modalities'' for the AGPL authentication remains the main bone of
contention. India wants proper
guarantees for it, both on the maps and
the ground, because its troops occupy
most of the dominating" posts on the Saltoro Ridge. After the 1999 Kargil incursion
experience and in the backdrop of
Chinese presence in
Kashmir, India does not want to vacate
the heights because if Pakistani troops
occupy them, it will be next to impossible to dislodge them. Pakistan has been dilly-dallying on the
matter, and in the past has demanded
that the pre-1972 troop positions be
recognised since it feels India violated'' the Simla Agreement by occupying the
heights in 1984. Both sides have long accepted the need to
demilitarize the glacial heights, with
soldiers deployed at heights ranging from
16,000 to 22,000 feet in extreme weather
and terrain. India has told Pakistan that it
is flexible on the methodology to be adopted for verification of the proposed
demilitarized zone but would insist on some map coordinates, obtained through
aerial or satellite imagery, to show the
relative positions on the ground". India is in no hurry to vacate its posts. The
Indian Army no longer bleeds heavily as it
used to in the earlier years after it pre-
empted Pakistan's Operation Ababeel'' to occupy the heights in April 1984 by just
one day with its own Operation Meghdoot''.
