Deal on Sir Creek on the cards

LAHORE: An Indo-Pak agreement on the contentious issue of Sir Creek seems to be on the cards as the two nuclear armed neighbours have agreed on the broad outline to resolve their boundary dispute in the marshy land.

 

The disputed Sir Creek, which runs along the Rann of Kutch in India and Sindh in Pakistan, is at the centre of a 22-year-old dispute between the two countries and is part of the eight-point agenda of Indo-Pak Composite Dialogue process.

 

Sources in the foreign office say India and Pakistan have narrowed down their differences on Sir Creek almost to naught during formal and informal talks in the last couple of months and a sketch of agreement has been drawn.

 

The sources said that the two countries have agreed to the delimitation of Indo-Pak maritime boundary from seawards by commencing at the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) limit and proceeding landwards up to a mutually acceptable limit as per provisions under technical aspects of law of sea (TALOS). The sources said the seaward approach is based on internationally accepted principles and would benefit both the countries for the exploitation of resources.

 

The foreign office sources said that both the sides conducted a joint survey of Sir Creek last year to identify the boundary pillars installed in 1924 on the marshy strip that separates Indian state of Gujarat and Pakistan’s Sindh province.

 

They were of the view that the determination of maritime boundaries after the final settlement of dispute would help define the limits of the exclusive economic zones (EEZs). To a question, the sources said that announcement of agreement on Sir Creek would be made during Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Islamabad likely to take place in February 2007.

 

Pakistan and India will hold expert-level talks in Islamabad on December 22-23 to chalk out a strategy for the final survey of boundary pillars before the finalisation of accord on Sir Creek that would be a first major breakthrough of the Indo-Pak peace process. Officials of the Foreign and Defence Ministries and maritime security agencies will take part in the two-day technical talks on Sir Creek dispute.

 

The demarcation of boundary has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan for several decades. In 1914, an agreement was signed between the then Government of Sindh and Rao Maharaj of Kutch. According to the agreement, both sides agreed to a boundary line running through the middle of the creek as a border between the two States.

 

The final demarcation was completed in 1925 in which the boundary was shown by a green line, depicted on the eastern side of the creek. One side of the creek is under Pakistan’s control, whereas there are Indian naval installations on the other side. Pakistan lays claim to all the 17 creeks of the Sindh coast, while India maintains that almost half of the area of Sir Creek, the seventeenth one, belongs to it.

 

The Indian contention is that the green line was simply an indicative line, and the boundary line should be defined by mid-channel of the creek as shown on the map of 1925. But Pakistan rejects the Indian view on the grounds that the notion of mid-channel is applicable only to navigable channels and says this channel is not a navigable one.

 

Another round of secret diplomacy  

 

 

In a bid to iron out Indo-Pak differences on the proposed withdrawal of troops from the controversial Siachen glacier, Pakistan and India have yet again set in motion secret diplomacy to pave the way for sustained talks on the Kashmiris self-rule proposal.

 

According to diplomatic sources in Islamabad, there isn’t any major point of contention between the political leadership of India and Pakistan on the proposed withdrawal of troops from icy wasteland of Siachen glacier.

 

Yet, the sources said, the Indian military establishment has been opposing any such move with tooth-and-nail before the authentication of positions currently being held by the armies of the two countries.

 

The sources said that in order to reach a mutually agreed settlement on the Siachen withdrawal before the Indian prime minister’s next year visit to Pakistan, yet another round of clandestine talks has been initiated through the channels of secret diplomacy.

 

The sources said that the resolution of Siachen issue and its announcement by the two sides during the visit of Indian prime minister would not only make the trip ‘substantive’ but also boost the peace process, especially the efforts aimed at the durable settlement of Kashmir problem, they said.

 

On the contentious issue of Jammu and Kashmir, the sources said, both the sides are working through secret diplomacy on a sketch for negotiations on a self-governance plan for Jammu & Kashmir.

 

What the officials involved on the front of secret diplomacy have been striving for is to ensure the continuation of negotiations on self-rule formula as only after that any movement towards the durable settlement could be expected, the sources said.