Defense secretaries from both countries held two days of closed-door talks in New Delhi on how to agree on withdrawing troops from the financially costly , mountainous no-man’s land above the Siachen glacier and defining the official border.
Military experts say the inhospitable climate and avalanche-prone terrain have claimed more lives than gunfire. Indian media reported that both sides had stuck to their long-standing positions.
“Neither can we say this is a success or a failure. But we cannot say there is forward movement,” an Indian Defense Ministry official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.
Failure to make progress on one of the less contentious issues between the arch enemies will worry those hoping for progress on broader peace talks, which resumed in April this year following pressure from the United States.
India and Pakistan have long accepted the need to demilitarize the Siachen glacier, located as high as 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) above sea level, which is seen as a stepping stone to larger issues such as the disputed Kashmir territory.
The two sides welcomed the dialogue but made no mention in a joint statement of any progress. Instead, they announced they would meet yet again in Islamabad, which would be the 13th round of talks on the issue.
“Both sides presented their position and suggestions toward the resolution of Siachen,” they said.
The talks in Delhi were the first meeting of the top civil servants from their ministries in more than three years. The Pakistani officials also visited India’s historic Taj Mahal monument, according to Indian media.
The odds were always stacked against a major breakthrough but Indian officials said they had hoped to make some progress in the long-running dispute.
The two armies have faced off in the Siachen region since India first stationed troops there in 1984.
New Delhi broke off a stumbling peace process that came close to agreeing a solution to Siachen after the 2008 Mumbai attacks by Pakistani-based militants that killed 166.
India has long maintained that it was unwilling to bring its forces down from Siachen until Pakistan authenticated the positions they held. Pakistan in turn has said it was willing to do so, but on the condition it was not a final endorsement of India’s claim to the glacier. A cease-fire has held on the remote battlefield since 2003.
The strategic importance of the glacier, in the Karakoram range, is debatable. Until 1984, no troops were permanently stationed there but now there are at least 10,000 Pakistani and Indian soldiers.
India controls the heights and is loath to back off for fear Pakistan might walk in.
India and Pakistan have long struggled to normalize ties, with both deeply suspicious of each other, but Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was born in what is now Pakistan, has staked his foreign policy legacy on improving ties.