India, Pakistan begin talks on Sir Creek dispute

New Delhi: Seeking a lasting solution to the decades-old maritime boundary dispute over Sir Creek in the Rann of Kutch marshland, India and Pakistan on Monday began a two-day dialogue here, the 12th in the series. The talks, to end on Tuesday, come just about a week after the two countries’ discussions on troop withdrawal from Siachen glacier, the world’s highest battle field, and a solution to the three-decade dispute in the Karakoram ranges of Jammu and Kashmir remained inconclusive. [caption id=“attachment_348234” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Reuters”]  [/caption] India is led in the talks by its Surveyor General S Subba Rao and Pakistan by its additional defence secretary, Rear Admiral Farrokh Ahmed. Sir Creek is a 96-km-long disputed territory between India and Pakistan in the Rann of Kutch marshlands, which opens up into the Arabian Sea. The Sir Creek divides the Kutch region of Gujrat state in India and the Sindh province of Pakistan. The discussions, originally scheduled in May this year, were postponed at the request of Pakistan, which it was presumed wanted to hear out India’s views on resolution of the Siachen dispute first before it puts forth its own views on Sir Creek, a dispute both sides feel is easily doable. The last Sir Creek talks between the two sides were held in May last year in Rawalpindi, the seat of the military headquarters of Pakistan, north of capital Islamabad. India was represented during those talks by Subba Rao and Pakistan by its then additional defence secretary, Rear Admiral Shah Sohail Masood. With both sides having stood their positions on Siachen dispute last week, not much progress or forward movement is expected from the Sir Creek talks too. IANS