India and Pakistan have made ‘considerable progress’ towards resolving the Sir Creek maritime boundary dispute in the wake of a joint survey of the region by experts from both countries. Of the eight issues being discussed by the two countries as part of their composite dialogue process since 2004, ‘tangible progress has been made on the issue of Sir Creek’, diplomatic sources said in Islamabad. The issue will figure during the meeting in Islamabad between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on May 21 to review the composite dialogue process. Progress towards determining the final status of the marshland, which separates the Kutch region of India's Gujarat state from Pakistan's Sindh province, was made possible by a 20-day joint survey of Sir Creek by hydrographers from India and Pakistan, the sources told Daily Times. This survey, which began in January 2007, was conducted on land and off the coast to ‘verify the outermost points of the coastline based on the principle of equidistance’, the sources said. Hydrographers from India and Pakistan exchanged their maps at the Wagah land border on March 22. Though officials from both sides initially said they had differences on the maps, it was later announced that they had found ‘points of convergence’ on the maps, raising hopes for a solution, the daily reported.
