Many in India have begun to project a new found positivity in Pakistan’s attitude towards India. There is substantial euphoria generated by General Kayani’s statement during his visit to the avalanche-affected Gayari area post the tragedy, further fuelled by President Zardari’s utterances during his ‘private’ visit to India.

No ice was broken during the July 2012 Indo-Pak Defence Secretaries level talks and frankly, no immediate thaw was even expected in view of the statement issued in Delhi, re-emphasising the importance of Siachen in safeguarding India’s national security. As predicted, there were no surprises from the Pakistani side which led by Pakistan Defence Secretary Nargis Sethi, who again called for a “time-bound” demilitarisation of the region, reiterating that both sides simultaneously pull troops back to the pre-1984 positions. The Indian side, led by Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma promptly replied stressing that the Pak proposal for military disengagement could be considered only after Pakistan first agreed to the sequential prerequisite of a proper “authentication, delineation and demarcation” process.

In other words, both sides remained steadfast on their respective positions; with a mere resolution in the end, to carry forward the dialogue in search of the elusive solution to the military stand-off between the two nations in the Saltoro Ridge-Siachen Glacier region of Jammu and Kashmir. “India and Pakistan reaffirm their resolve to make serious, sustained and resultoriented efforts for seeking an amicable resolution of Siachen,” said the anodyne statement. And while the atmospherics were good and certain proposals were exchanged, in keeping with the desire of the leaders of both countries for early resolution of all outstanding issues, the bottom line remained unchanged.

If that was the ‘Track-I’ position in July 2012, what prompted so dramatic a change of tack within two months on the ‘Track-II’ front. At a September 2012 meeting held in Lahore, Pakistan, a group of retired senior officials, military officers and diplomats have reached a consensus on a number of confidence-building measures (CBMs). More specifically, citing, “Track-2 should not only track ‘Track-I’ but move ahead more boldly”, they have not only agreed on a proposal regarding the demilitarisation of the Siachen area but even listed down various steps on how it is to be done. While there appears to be great hurry from the Pakistani side especially after it lost nearly 110 Army soldiers and another 70-odd civilians, buried in a terrible snow avalanche at Gayari (in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) during the month of April this year, there should be no such urgency as far as India is concerned. Granted that India too has suffered a number of casualties due to natural calamities since its own troop deployment in the area covering more than a quarter of a century, and on that basis, it should also be desirous of military disengagement, but the big question is: can India hope for a just solution to the problem on the basis of fair and established norms? More importantly, can it trust Pakistan to behave as a responsible nation and adhere to its commitments/obligations in perpetuity?