India, Pak for Joint Survey of Sir Creek area

New Delhi, May 26: Narrowing down their differences, India and Pakistan today agreed to conduct a Joint Survey of the Sir Creek area, a 96-km marsh between the Rann of Kutch and the Pak Sindh Province.

Winding up official-level talks here, both sides decided to conduct a joint survey of the area, both in creek and sea, soon.

Modalities in this regard will be worked out by the technical experts of the two countries, officials said.

At the end of this Ninth Round of talks between New Delhi and Islamabad since 1969 on the demarcation dispute, Surveyor General of India Major General Gopal Rao, who led the Indian delegation, said the two sides had been able to ''narrow down differences''.

Pakistani delegation leader Rear Admiral Ahsanul Haq Chaudhri, Additional Secretary in the Pak Defence Ministry, said ''the two countries have made progress''.

The two sides met in the backdrop of failed discussions on troops withdrawal from the Siachen Glacier, held here earlier this week, but were firm in the belief that an early settlement of all issues would help not only in enhancing the existing mode of relationship between the two countries but also begin an era of inceased economic activity.

While Pakistan claims that the entire Sir Creek lies in its territory India says the boundary between the two countries lies in the middle of the Creek. Resolution of the dispute as soon as possible is crucial as the country will then have the right to exploit natural resources to an extent of 300 km into the Arabian Sea. The entire stretch is rich in oil and gas.

Experts say the two countries have to settle maritime boundary disputes, including Sir Creek, by 2009 because of the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS) which enjoins all countries to settle maritime disputes by 2009.

The UN Law has been ratified by about 60 countries, including India and Pakistan, and was enforced in 1994. However, nations having maritime border disputes were given time to settle the issues by 2004, which was later extended to 2009.

The previous round of talks on resolving the Sir Creek dispute was held in Islamabad last year.

The talks on Sir Creek were part of the ongoing Third Round of the Composite Dialogue Process (CDP) between the two countries.

As part of the same process, the two countries will hold Home Secretary-level parleys on May 30 and 31 in Islamabad on terrorism and drug trafficking.

This will be followed by talks here between Culture Secretaries on the promotion of friendly exchanges on June 1 and 2.

UNI

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