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No thaw on Siachen

Belying hopes of a breakthrough, India and Pakistan have once again failed to reach an agreement on the withdrawal of forces from the Siachen Glacier. The eleventh round of official-level talks on the issue ended in Rawalpindi with the usual anodyne joint statement that the two sides remain committed to the peaceful resolution of the high-altitude dispute. Although a ceasefire has been in force since 2003, India and Pakistan should not let Siachen fester. Soldiers may no longer be dying from firing from the other side but the weather and terrain continue to exact an unnecessary human and financial cost. Devoid of wider strategic significance, the glacier and its surrounding heights have become a curse for the two countries. That is why both New Delhi and Islamabad have formally been committed to the region's demilitarisation since 1989. That this commitment remains unimplemented nearly two decades later is testimony to the obduracy of the military and political establishments on both sides.

On paper, the failure to reach an agreement revolves around the question of "authentication" of existing ground positions. India says Pakistan must first accept on a map the Actual Ground Position Line in Siachen; only then can the modalities of demilitarisation be worked out. Pakistan resists authentication because it fears India will subsequently use Islamabad's signature on a map marking the outer limits of Indian possession to press its claim to the territory. If media reports can be believed, Islamabad has modified its position slightly. It is willing to authenticate ground positions not in a stand-alone document but as part of a wider demilitarisation agreement. It also insists that India should agree that this act of authentication will be without prejudice to any final settlement. There is no sensible reason for the Indian side not to accept this idea unless the obstacle is good, old-fashioned distrust. If the Indian Army and Government believe Pakistan is simply waiting for India to pull out before occupying the glacier itself, an "authenticated" map will provide as little military protection as an unauthenticated one. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has spoken of the need to "trust, but verify" and to turn Siachen into a "mountain of peace." The withdrawal of forces from a clearly marked zone of disengagement, with joint verification by India and Pakistan, will do precisely that. Prime Minister Singh and President Musharraf must move decisively to settle the Siachen issue to mutual advantage.

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