Sayed Kassem al-Hosseini was detained Saturday night
While the Pakistani delegation has two civilian officials and herve leger sale four military officers, the Indian side includes Special Secretary R.K. Mathur, Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt. General A.M. Verma and Surveyor General S.Subha Rao, defence officials said.
After the talks, the Pakistani Defence Secretary will call on Defence Minister A.K. Antony this evening.
Siachen, the world’s highest militarised zone, has been a long pending issue between India and Pakistan over differences on the location of the 110-km long Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) which passes through the Soltoro Ridge and Siachen Glacier.
“The AGPL is not clearly marked beyond the grid reference point of NJ—9842. The two countries have decided to de-militarise the Siachen Glacier, but the matter is stuck as there are apprehensions on both sides,” officials said.
India wants Pakistan to authenticate the AGPL, both on the maps and the ground, as it occupies most of the dominating posts on the Saltoro Ridge, they said.
Pakistan, in turn, has been insisting on maintaining the pre-1972 troop positions as herve leger agreed in the Simla Agreement.
On Pakistan Army’s advances in the glacier in 1984, India launched Operation Meghdoot and deployed its troops in most of the dominating features in the area.
Former Egyptian president Hosny Mubarak had rejected Iran’s overtures for 15 years, but he was ousted in February.
Egypt’s new foreign minister, Nabil al-Arabi, said in March that Cairo was ready to ‘open a new page with Iran’ in the post-Mubarak era. That statement was followed by a meeting between him and Salehi this month on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement conference in Indonesia.
In Salehi’s remarks Sunday, he did not refer to the latest row between Tehran and Cairo over an Iranian diplomat charged by Egyptian intelligence with espionage.
Sayed Kassem al-Hosseini was detained Saturday night and accused of gathering political, economic and military information on Egypt and some Gulf countries.
Prosecutors charged al-Hosseini with spying and filed a case against him. However, shortly afterward, authorities released him after confirming that he was a member of the Iranian diplomatic mission and, therefore, has diplomatic immunity.
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