Pak on Siachen: India must revert to Simla Pact positions

In reply to PM Manmohan Singh’s statement favouring the conversion of Siachen glacier into a “peace mountain,” Pakistan today maintained its stand that India vacate its “aggression” and withdraw troops to positions held at the time of 1972 Simla agreement.

“India committed aggression on Siachen in 1983. India has to vacate that aggression in order to make Siachen a peaceful area. We hope, following the (PM’s) statement, India would unconditionally withdraw its aggression on the basis of past agreements,” foreign office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani said. He said the Siachen “aggression” was a violation of 1948 Karachi agreement and Simla agreement. “We hope the statement reflects a change in the Indian position. Pakistan has always maintained that the Siachen issue should be resolved peacefully between India and Pakistan,” he said.

At Siachen yesterday, Singh had called for turning it into a “peace mountain” but said there could be “no redrawing of boundaries” in the search for peace as it related to the country’s security and prestige. Referring to a joint statement issued after the defence secretaries talks in 1989 in which both sides “unconditionally” agreed to withdraw from Siachen “on the level the troops were deployed at the signing of shimla agreement, he said “once that takes place Siachen would certainly become mountain of peace”.