NEW DELHI, June 21: The Indian army said on Tuesday it had prepared a roadmap for the withdrawal of troops from the Siachen glacier. “We have given our viewpoint to the government on converting the Saltoro ridge and the glacier into a demilitarized zone,” army chief General J.J. Singh said.
Gen Singh’s statement came after India and Pakistan announced late last month they would continue talks about their standoff on the glacier, but reported no substantive progress following two days of discussions.
The Saltoro ridge wedged between Azad Kashmir and China’s militarized Aksai Chin has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan since 1984 when Indian troops occupied the world’s highest battlefield.
During a visit to Siachen earlier this month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for the 6,300-metre glacier be turned into a ‘zone of peace’ between India and Pakistan.
The talks on demilitarizing the glacier are part of a wider peace process between India and Pakistan who agreed to a ceasefire in November 2003 along the Siachen front and the rest of their borders.
Thousands of Pakistani and Indian soldiers are eyeball-to-eyeball atop the glacier. But more troops have died from the icy temperatures, altitude and accidents than from enemy fire.
In 1999, Kashmiri freedom fighters occupied the icy heights of Kargil, triggering fighting between India and Pakistan that cost hundreds of lives and brought them close to war.
PEACE COMMITMENT: Meanwhile, Prime Minister Singh on Tuesday rejected the charge that his government had mishandled the recent visit by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference’s leaders to Pakistan and reiterated its commitment to carrying the peace process forward between the two countries.—AFP
