ISLAMABAD, Feb 3: Pakistan has proposed to India that directors-general military operations (DGMOs) of the two countries meet this month to discuss the Siachen glacier issue and offered to host the inaugural session of the joint anti-terrorism mechanism in the first week of March, it is learnt.

However, the Indian response to the two proposals made last month was still awaited, informed sources told Dawn on Saturday.

While Pakistan and India have held several rounds of talks on the Siachen issue at the defence secretary-level, the matter has never been taken up at the DGMO-level. One possible reason for Pakistan proposing a meeting at this level could be to allay apprehensions voiced by certain sections of the Indian military establishment regarding an impending agreement on Siachen.

Pakistan mooted the idea of holding DGMO-level talks on Siachen when the foreign ministers of the two countries met here last month. The Indian side was receptive to the idea. Subsequently, Islamabad dispatched a formal proposal to New Delhi, suggesting that the two military officials should meet in the second week of February, ahead of the Joint Commission meeting.

Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced at a joint press conference after his talks with Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri in Islamabad on January 13 that the two sides had agreed to direct officials concerned on both sides to meet at an early date and expedite the process of addressing the Siachen issue. He also announced the decision of the two sides to hold the first meeting of the joint anti-terrorism mechanism before the end of March. Pakistan has apparently proposed that the meeting be held in Islamabad on March 6-7.

Mr Kasuri had declared while responding to a question at the same press conference that “a lot of work had already been done” on the Siachen issue and asserted that given the political will, it could be resolved within days.

He said that during the official talks in New Delhi in November 2006, foreign secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan had handed over a ‘detailed plan’ in this regard to his Indian counterpart. Referring to the plan as a ‘package’, Mr Kasuri said it took care of concerns on both the sides.

The last defence secretary-level meeting between the two countries on the Siachen issue was held in May 2006 in New Delhi. However, it failed to yield any breakthrough and both sides decided to continue discussions in a phased manner.