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Row over highest battlefied to be solved soon: Pak
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November 13, 2006 23:10 IST

Ahead of the foreign secretary-level talks, Pakistan on Monday said resolving the Siachen glacier issue is just a matter of days.

Islamabad said the two countries have narrowed down their differences.

"There are differences, but these can be bridged by political will," Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri told NDTV.

"Given the political will, we have narrowed down our differences enough for us to have a decision within a matter of days, not even a week," he said.

The statement comes close on the heels of New Delhi saying that the vexed issue can be solved immediately if Pakistan agrees to proper authentication of the present troop deployment positions at the world's highest battlefield.

Kasuri, who had made a similar statement in an interview to PTI about a fortnight back, noted that certain sections in India had then been very unhappy.

Apparently referring to Indian Army explicitly putting conditions for demilitarisation of Siachen, he said, "I have seen certain statements coming from India, from certain sections, which has surprised me. I thought those sections do not speak publicly in India but they do."

The two countries had agreed to demilitarise Siachen but have failed to reach a common position on how to do it. India insists that until Pakistan gives ironclad guarantees in the form of proper authentication of present troop positions, demilitarisation will entail a risk.


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