Disputed territory: Pakistan, India resume talks on Sir Creek
Pakistan and India have vowed to sit on the negotiating table with a positive mind.
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan and India will resume their stalled dialogue on the Sir Creek dispute today as the two sides have vowed to sit on the negotiating table with a positive mind.
An eight-member Indian delegation, led by Surveyor General of India Subba Rao, arrived here on Thursday for the two-day negotiations on the long-standing dispute over the 96 kilometre estuary in the Rann Kutch area that separates Indian Gujrat from Sindh.
Additional Defence Secretary Rear Admiral (retd) Shah Sohail Masood will lead Pakistani side.
The Additional Secretaries/Surveyors General level talks on Sir Creek are part of a resumed dialogue process between the two countries that was suspended two years back.
Before the dialogue was suspended in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, both sides had claimed to have made significant progress in resolving this particular issue.
In February 2009, Khurshid Kasuri, who served as foreign minister under Pervez Musharraf, said that an agreement was ready on joint survey and joint maps on the Sir Creek dispute.
“It was ready. Joint survey, joint maps. Only political will was required,” he said.
Rao, who remains very optimistic about the talks, said that the maritime boundary based on maps has already been finalised in a joint survey conducted in early 2007.
The talk on the Sir Creek issue follows parleys earlier this year between the Home and Interior Secretaries, the Commerce Secretaries and the Water Secretaries.
In a brief statement issued on the eve of the talks, the Foreign Office said that Pakistan attaches great importance to the resumed dialogue process and looks forward to a meaningful engagement with India on all issues.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2011.
Pakistan and India will resume their stalled dialogue on the Sir Creek dispute today as the two sides have vowed to sit on the negotiating table with a positive mind.
An eight-member Indian delegation, led by Surveyor General of India Subba Rao, arrived here on Thursday for the two-day negotiations on the long-standing dispute over the 96 kilometre estuary in the Rann Kutch area that separates Indian Gujrat from Sindh.
Additional Defence Secretary Rear Admiral (retd) Shah Sohail Masood will lead Pakistani side.
The Additional Secretaries/Surveyors General level talks on Sir Creek are part of a resumed dialogue process between the two countries that was suspended two years back.
Before the dialogue was suspended in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, both sides had claimed to have made significant progress in resolving this particular issue.
In February 2009, Khurshid Kasuri, who served as foreign minister under Pervez Musharraf, said that an agreement was ready on joint survey and joint maps on the Sir Creek dispute.
“It was ready. Joint survey, joint maps. Only political will was required,” he said.
Rao, who remains very optimistic about the talks, said that the maritime boundary based on maps has already been finalised in a joint survey conducted in early 2007.
The talk on the Sir Creek issue follows parleys earlier this year between the Home and Interior Secretaries, the Commerce Secretaries and the Water Secretaries.
In a brief statement issued on the eve of the talks, the Foreign Office said that Pakistan attaches great importance to the resumed dialogue process and looks forward to a meaningful engagement with India on all issues.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2011.