Pak Foreign Office says proposals being discussed for peace on Siachen

The Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) has said that Pakistan and India are discussing several proposals to resolve the Siachen issue.

Islamabad, May 8 : The Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) has said that Pakistan and India are discussing several proposals to resolve the Siachen issue.

"Proposals about identifying forward positions and relocating troops are part of the discussions to declare Siachen a peace zone," FO spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told a weekly briefing here.

Aslam said the resolution of the Siachen issue would be an important development to achieve lasting peace between the two countries.

It was only last month that Pakistan had alleged that the recent talks with India over the Siachen issue had failed because of a lack of political will on the part of New Delhi.

The country's Foreign Office had then said that it expected a 'positive response' from India to "reasonable proposals" made by Pakistan over the issue.

Aslam reportedly said that a strong political will was required to move forward on the issue. On being specifically asked if she was saying that there was a lack of political will in India, Aslam said: "I am not going to pass judgment on the issue - but it is obvious that political will is required to solve the issues."

Aslam was also quoted by the Daily Times as saying that there were no militant training camps on the Pakistan side of Kashmir. She was endorsing former Pok President Sardar Qayyum Khan's recent statement in New Delhi that such camps no longer existed in the area.

Khan had last month admitted that terrorists had once been running camps from Pakistani-occupied Kashmir.

She said that a judges committee agreed between Pakistan and India to address the issue of jailed nationals should be made operational at the earliest.

ANI