LAHORE: The tragic news about Pakistani soldiers being buried under an avalanche on the 6,000-metre-high Siachen glacier just adds to the grief that tense relations between Pakistan and India have caused over the years.

The Siachen disaster has shown both countries that perhaps, the time has come to demilitarise the glacier and cut short their respective defense budgets. Parliaments on both sides should critically review defense allocations in the budgets and these resources should be used for other under-developed sectors, including education and healthcare so that the progress and prosperity of the future generations of the subcontinent can be ensured.

Dr Hassan Anjum Shahid

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2012.