PM & Gen will work to move ahead on Siachen, Sir Creek

On Siachen, this will mean using satellite imagery to fix troop positions. On Sir Creek in the Rann of Kutch, there’s willingness to accept ‘‘adjustments within the Creek’’ but minus any change in the maritime boundaries. The proposals on Siachen and Sir Creek were conveyed to Pakistan during the secretary-level talks in May and reiterated by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran during his visit to Islamabad last month.

With the next round of bilateral dialogue scheduled to start next January, General Musharraf may use the New York meeting to take a political decision on the Indian proposals. Officials could follow it with necessary spadework.

This apart, the two leaders will exchange notes on Kashmir as both of them have individually spoken to the Hurriyat leadership.

While moving forward through more Kashmir-linked CBMs, the two sides are now waiting for the Hurriyat’s proposals on what they feel should be the status of Jammu and Kashmir.

On Siachen, New Delhi knows that Islamabad does not want to exchange the maps denoting the Indian and Pakistani army positions on the Saltoro ridge that flanks the 72 km long glacier as a precursor for disengagement. But it has now conveyed to Islamabad that it is ready to use satellite imagery to fix army positions on the grid.

Thereafter, troops from both sides can disengage.

While Pakistan is yet to get back on this proposal, the satellite imagery initiative is to build a comfort level for Islamabad which doesn’t want any exchange of maps of the Saltoro ridge.

Once a political decision is taken on Siachen, the two armies can prepare a roadmap for disengagement that addresses the asymmetric deployments. In short, the Indian Army will have to work out how far can they disengage from the ridge. They have to factor any future redeployment on the glacier.

India has also come out with a more acceptable proposal on Sir Creek. Pakistan is willing to accept the horizontal line (defined by 38 pillars called the western terminal) that meets the head of the creek.

India is prepared for adjustment of boundary within the Creek without changing its stand on maritime boundary, including the exclusive economic zone.

Though the Sir Creek has shifted since the dispute began in 1914—it goes back in time to the reign of the Rao Maharaj of Kutch and the Sindh government—Pakistan wants the boundary along the eastern bank of the Creek.

But India, using the ‘‘thalweg or mid-channel principle’’ wants the boundary along the middle of the Creek. If India accepts the Pakistani position, it loses some 250 sq miles of possibly hydrocarbon-rich ocean and ocean floor.

To settle this issue, New Delhi is now willing to adjust the boundary within the Creek to meet Islamabad’s position but wants the maritime boundaries unchanged.

In effect, New Delhi wants to define the maritime boundary by drawing a line from the southernmost tip of the Creek. Both countries realise the urgency to resolve the Sir Creek issue because the final date for submission of proposals on the UN Convention on Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) is 2009.