Pakistan and India remained glued to their positions as the two-day defence secretary-level talks concluded here without a major announcement on Tuesday.
The Indian delegation was headed by defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and his Pakistani counterpart Nargis Sethi headed the Pakistan delegation.
“Both sides reaffirmed their resolve to make serious, sustained and result-oriented efforts for seeking an amicable resolution of Siachen. It was agreed to continue the dialogue on Siachen in keeping with the desire of the leaders of both the countries for early resolution of all outstanding issues. Both sides acknowledged that the ceasefire was holding since 2003,” said a joint statement issued after the meeting.
Mr Sharma also called on Pakistan minister for defence Syed Naveed Qamar who showed commitment to resolve all issues with India through dialogue.
“It was agreed that the next round of talks on Siachen will be held in New Delhi on mutually convenient dates, to be fixed through diplomatic channels,” said the joint statement.
A senior government official who attended the meeting told this newspaper that both the sides agreed in principle on demilitarisation of the Siachen frontier, but they agreed to discuss it further before finalising anything.
“The talks were positive in the sense that the two sides did not differ too much on the Siachen issue but there were no plans on how to demilitarise the area,” he added.
The deliberations, he said, would be taken up at the foreign ministers meeting likely in July and the expected defence ministers-level discussions.
He also said that the draft recommendations for the resolution of Siachen, Sir Creek and Kashmir issues would be prepared during the concluding session of Pak-India foreign ministers meeting in the coming July. Pakistan, the official said, called for the resolution of Siachen dispute in the light of 1989 Pak-India agreement on Siachen and a follow up agreement signed three years later by both states, in 1992.
The Indian side is said to have favoured further discussions on phase-wise troops withdrawal from Siachen and proportional troops pullout from the valley by both the countries — a reported policy that envisages early troops evacuation of base posts and eviction of forward posts at later stages.
In a demonstration of flexibility in its otherwise toughened stance on Siachen issue, Pakistan’s military command had called for the resolution of Siachen issue through demilitarisation.
The development came after Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s visit to Gayari in April where an avalanche had wiped out a Pakistan Army battalion.
Gen. Kayani has urged for troops withdrawal by both the sides for “peaceful coexistence”.