WASHINGTON, May 12: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s forthcoming visit to Islamabad would be a good opportunity for India and Pakistan to resolve the Siachin dispute, said a former Indian foreign secretary.

“Let’s see if the visit brings some advancement, particularly on the issue of Siachin,” said Salman Haider while speaking at a book launching ceremony in Washington.

Dennis Kux, author of the book “India-Pakistan Negotiations: Is Past Still Prologue?” also stressed the need for resolving this dispute which has caused the death of hundreds of soldiers on both sides by frost bites and hypothermia.

But he said there’s a perception that the Indian military did not want “a movement’ on the Siachin issue.

Mr Haider hoped that Dr Singh’s visit would lead to a general improvement in relations between the two neighbours.

Mr Singh is expected to visit Islamabad sometime next month although the dates and the agenda have not yet been finalised.

Mr Haider, however, urged Pakistanis also to look at India’s perspective on issues like Kashmir. “The prime minister has said that while he could not change the LoC, he can make the border irrelevant,” he noted.

He described the opening of the bus routes between Muzaffarabad and Srinagar as a move in that direction and said that a third bus route between Poonch and Rawalakot may soon be opened.

Mr Kux noted that while there’s no immediate solution to the Kashmir dispute, “a day will come” when this problem could be solved.

Ambassador Kux, a former South Asian specialist for the State Department, said it was important that bilateral talks that have already led to an improvement in the environment should continue.

He agreed with a questioner who suggested that Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent also had played a role in motivating India to open a dialogue with Islamabad.

Mr Kux said that unless there’s a progress on Kashmir, efforts at boosting bilateral trade will not gain momentum. Traders had a clout in India, but not in Pakistan. “Since legal bilateral trade is so mall, it is hardly a factor in improving relations between the two countries,” said Mr Kux while stressing the need “to open up trade.”

Touqir Hussain, a former Pakistani ambassador and now a visiting fellow at a Washington university, noted that India appeared willing to accommodate a stable and prosperous Pakistan.