Indo-Pak officials to hold talks on Siachen glacier this week
Afp, New Delhi
Top defence officials from nuclear-armed south Asian rivals Pakistan and India are to meet later this week for talks on possible troop cuts at the world's highest frontline, an official said yesterday. An Indian defence ministry spokesman said the defence secretaries of the two countries would meet on Friday and Saturday, most likely in Islamabad, for fresh discussions on the 6,300-metre (20,800-feet) Siachen glacier. Thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers are posted on the Siachen glacier -- situated in northern Kashmir close to the Chinese border -- where altitude, icy temperatures and accidents have claimed more lives than enemy fire. The two side fought regular artillery duels in the region until November 2003, when a ceasefire was agreed along the heavily-militarised Line of Control in Kashmir. Analysts say Siachen is of little strategic value, but the Indian army -- which has occupied most of the high-altitude battlefield since 1987 -- wants existing troop positions marked out to dissuade Pakistan from moving its soldiers forward in the event of a pull-out. Pakistan, which claims all of Kashmir, fears that drawing down its positions would be tacit acceptance of India's claims to Siachen and the area as a whole.
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