Policy on Siachen issue remains unchanged: FO

Pakistan

Policy on Siachen issue remains unchanged: FO

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Pakistan wants peaceful resolution of Siachen issue, spokesperson said.

19 April,2012 04:48 pm

Foreign Office today said there was no change in the policy on the Siachen issue with India and that it had no plans to redeploy its troops from the glacier described as the worlds highest and coldest battlefield.There is no change as far as Pakistans policy or position on Siachen is concerned, Foreign Office spokesman Moazzam Khan told a weekly news briefing.He was responding to questions about army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayanis remarks yesterday that Pakistan and India should resolve all issues, including Siachen, to ensure peaceful co-existence.We are not thinking in terms of redeployment of our troops, Khan said. The Pakistani side has made several proposals to resolve the military standoff on Siachen, including a proposal for re-deployment of forces, he said.I said that the proposals that we have made regarding Siachen includes mutual redeployment of troops. We are not thinking of (any unilateral redeployment of troops), he added.The dispute over Siachen, which dates back to 1984, has been in focus since an avalanche slammed into a high-altitude Pakistan Army camp on April 7, burying 127 soldiers and 11 civilians under dozens of feet of snow.After visiting the site of the avalanche yesterday, Kayani had said that there should be a resolution of Siachen and other issues.Khan said the Siachen issue was part of the ongoing dialogue between the two countries and is being discussed by the Defence Secretaries.He also said Pakistan-India will soon resume secretarial level talks in Islamabad.Responding to a question regarding reopening of NATO supply routes, Khan said applicable plan needs to be devised, however no such decision has been taken as yet.