NEW DELHI, May 21: Defence officials from India and Pakistan will discuss pulling troops from Siachen glacier here this week, an official said on Sunday.

The talks come days after India’s Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee ruled out “any withdrawal of troops from Siachen so long as talks going on with Pakistan on the issue do not yield any results.”

The Indian side will be led by Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt while the Pakistani delegation will be headed by his counterpart Tariq W. Ghazi, the official said. Military experts estimate there are 7,000 Indian troops and 4,000 Pakistani soldiers stationed there.

Extreme weather on the 6,300-metre glacier kills more troops than combat.—AFP