Indian PM says "progress" made on Kashmir-report
Source: Reuters
NEW DELHI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - India and Pakistan have made progress in resolving their dispute over the Siachen glacier in Kashmir, the Press Trust of India quoted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as saying on Monday. The two neighbours entered a new phase in talks when their foreign ministers met in Islamabad over the weekend -- part of a three-year-old peace process that has yet to resolve territorial disputes. On Saturday, the two decided that officials should find a way to demilitarise the Siachen Glacier -- the world's highest battlefield -- which their armies have fought over since 1984. Singh said on Monday the two sides were moving forward on a number of issues. "We have had several rounds of composite dialogue in which Siachen, Sir Creek and other issues figured," Singh reportedly said on board his special aircraft on his return from a summit in the Philippines. "We are making progress," he said. "But it will be premature for me to say that we have reached a stage where agreement is being signed." Sir Creek -- a 100 km (60 miles) estuary -- another area of dispute between New Delhi and Islamabad, flows into the Arabian Sea between the Pakistani province of Sindh and the Indian state of Gujarat. Indian and Pakistani hydrographers are expected to a start a joint survey of the Sir Creek estuary this month, which will eventually lead to the demarcation of the area. Singh said the two countries were holding negotiations on the issue of authenticating their ground positions in Siachen and there were "hopeful features in the present dialogue". Having fought three wars since partition and independence from British colonial rule in 1947, Pakistan and India came to the brink of a fourth in 2002. While diplomatic, sporting, commercial, transport and cultural relations have improved since a peace process was launched in January 2004, the two old rivals still remain divided over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. Indian officials say more than 40,000 people have been killed in the revolt against New Delhi's rule in Jammu and Kashmir, mainly Hindu India's only Muslim-majority state. Human rights groups put the toll at around 60,000 dead or missing.
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