Melting point

The stubborn position taken by India over the Siachin Glacier has not helped lower temperatures at all. Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal told the 29^th charter meeting of Saarc in Islamabad that while Islamabad and New Delhi have reached an agreement over Siachen and Sir Creek, the Indian security establishment is refusing to allow signatures to be put on it. This is obviously an unfortunate situation, with Pakistan’s Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, pointing out just days ago the significant environmental damage the Indian military presence on the Siachen Glacier was causing, contributing to a faster glacial melt and consequent problems linked to the issue of water supply and the loss of pristine fields of snow.

Siachen, as both peace activists and environmental experts have pointed out, is a heritage shared between India and Pakistan. It is the duty of both to protect it and for the sake of reduced tensions to vacate it of a military presence. The world’s highest battleground must be returned to nature. The presence of boots on it is immoral.

In this context, the entrenched position apparently taken by New Delhi is extremely unfortunate. If, indeed, an agreement has been reached, no time should be lost in putting ink to it. Both nations need to recognise the gravity of the situation and do their best to ease existing problems any way they can. The reluctance to do so can only be regretted. A way needs to be found to work around the present deadlock and allow diplomacy to prevail. We hope that the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, TCA Raghavan, who was present at the Saarc meeting, will convey the message delivered there back to his capital and persuade people who make decisions to move ahead towards solving the problems that are essential to building much-needed trust between Pakistan and India, thereby also easing the tensions which run through the region and add to the frictions which lead to violence and unrest within it at sporadic intervals.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2013.

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