By IANS,
New Delhi : India Friday said that the directors general of military operations of India and Pakistan need to meet first to ensure peace on the border before other issues can be taken up.
Responding to Pakistan saying that India should withdraw its troops from the Siachen glacier as it was causing pollution, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said the prime ministers of both countries had during their New York meeting agreed that their DGMOs should meet as a first step towards normalization of relations.
He said both the countries have a dialogue process and Siachen is part of that.
“The dialogue was interrupted due to some incidents which were not conducive to continuing the dialogue,” he said, referring to the ceasefire violations on the Line of Control on the border.
The spokesperson added that the question of other issues “have not come about as the first step in that has not been taken….. Based on the outcome of the first step, other steps would be taken”.
Sartaj Aziz, the Pakistan prime minister’s advisor on foreign affairs, has said that the presence of Indian troops on the Siachen glacier was causing pollution and India should withdraw its troops.