Imran Khan supports demilitarisation of Siachen glacier

LAHORE: Backing the military move, cricketer -turned-politician Imran Khan supported demilitarisation of the Siachen glacier, but said there should not be any unilateral withdrawal by Pakistani troops.

Admitting that the military standoff on the glacier was costing both Pakistan and India a lot of resources, Khan said he favoured a simultaneous withdrawal of forces from the area, billed as the world's highest battlefield.

"There should not be a unilateral withdrawal of forces," the chief of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf party told reporters at Lahore yesterday.

He acknowledged that the standoff on Siachen was causing huge losses to both countries and the glacier should be demilitarised.

Civil society groups in India and Pakistan have spoken of the need to demilitarise Siachen since an avalanche slammed into a high-altitude Pakistan Army camp on April 7, burying 138 people under dozens of feet of snow.

Search teams have not found any signs of survivors so far.

Khan's remarks were in marked contrast to comments by main opposition PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, who has said Pakistan should take the initiative to settle the Siachen issue with India.

Khan had earlier criticised President Asif Ali Zardari's decision to go ahead with a private visit to India a day after the avalanche hit the battalion headquarters.

Following a visit to the Siachen sector on April 18, army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani called for all issues between India and Pakistan to be resolved to ensure "peaceful co-existence" which would allow the two countries to focus on development.

Kayani further said Pakistan hoped the Siachen issue is "resolved so that both the countries don't have to pay the cost".

Since Khan's party organised a string of massive rallies across Pakistan, it has been accused of having close links to the security establishment, especially intelligence agencies.

Khan dismissed allegations about his party's links with former Inter-Services Intelligence agency chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha, saying a general could form a party but would not be able to mobilise large numbers of people.