Defence Secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet in Islamabad on June 11-12 for the next round of talks over the Siachen glacier. Little progress was made during the last round of talks in mid-2011. And after defence minister AK Antony’s recent statement in the parliament that India’s position hasn’t changed in the last one year, not much is expected from this round too.

Bilateral talks on the Sir Creek dispute were scheduled on May 14-16 at New Delhi, but Pakistan abruptly informed India that its representatives won’t be able to attend them. These talks will now be held on June 22, 10 days after the Siachen talks. Clearly, Pakistan is keen on negotiating on the Siachen issue with India before discussing Sir Creek. A mutually acceptable solution to the Sir Creek dispute is there and Pakistan believes that the Indian Prime Minister needs the deal on Sir Creek to justify making a visit to Pakistan.