Siachen issue to be primarily settled by dialogue: US

Washington, Apr 9: The Siachen issue between India and Pakistan is to be primarily resolved through dialogue, but the US is willing to help the two neighbours in whatever way it could, a State Department official said today.

"We have made clear to both India and Pakistan that we are prepared to be supportive in any way that might be helpful, but that primarily we see this being settled by dialogue between them," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters at her daily news conference.

The US, she said, has sent a team for search and rescue operation in Siachen where nearly 150 Pakistani soldiers were buried after being hit by an avalanche on Saturday.

"At the request of the government of Pakistan, the USG did deploy an eight-man US military alpine search-and-rescue team from Kabul to Islamabad. They arrived yesterday. The team is currently in Islamabad, has not yet deployed to the region. We're discussing with the Pakistani military how best they might be used," she said.

"But we stand by to assist, and to my knowledge we haven't had any additional requests from Pakistan," Nuland said.

PTI