Report and Compilation: Siachen end to the impasse?

Report and Compilation

Siachen: End to the impasse?

Image removed.
Photo Courtesy: Dr. Axel Harneit-Sievers 

 

April 1, 2013

The long-standing Siachen dispute has taken a toll on both lives and relationships for India and Pakistan. The issue was discussed under the composite dialogue initiated by both nations. It is our belief that the issue can be resolved without affecting the security of both countries.

The roundtable on Siachen which was held in Mumbai on 14 August 2012, co-organised by DA and 'Sanctuary Asia', with support and inputs from groups like South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) and members of Pakistan India Peoples' Forum for Peace & Democracy (PIPFPD) was an effort at engaging our respective governments, media and society on the Siachen conflict. The dossier on Siachen was prepared as a context-setter to the Roundtable, but its position surely is not limited to it. The effort is relevant keeping in mind that, compilations on this issue that bring together important points, key discussions and a chronology along with historical explanations of country positions are a rarity. In this interest, we have reworked on the original the dossier since the Roundtable, adding the RT report, the declaration from the August 14 RT and some additional articles that have appeared on the issue since then.

There are largely five key issues that help both the Indian and Pakistani establishments continue in the state of conflict that both these South Asian countries have been caught in since their independence in August 1947:

1. Kashmir imbroglio (the 'K' word holds the key to all failed negotiations – though both countries do not accept this)

2. Indo-Pak water disputes and agreements/treaties

3. Sir Creek dispute

4. Maritime boundary issue or in other words what is now the Indo-Pak fishworkers issue (arrests of fishworkers for crossing water boarders has become the core of the issue but the underlying issue is the lack of a clear maritime boundary and monitoring mechanism)

5. Siachen conflict (especially since 1984)

Among these there are two categories; familiar to the diplomats and political leadership who have dealt with these issues—hard issues and soft issues. Of course the main hard issue is that of Kashmir, which involves the fate of millions of people in Indian administered Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh and the Pakistani administered 'Azad' Kashmir. However, due to the nature of military involvement, issues like Siachen and even Indo-Pak fish workers's arrests appear like hard issues, for which softening of positions looks difficult; if not impossible.

Click here to continue reading report Siachen: End to the impasse?  (94 pages, pdf, 3.0 MB)