Himalayan Peace Deal in Sight

Troops could soon be leaving the world's highest battleground, the Siachen glacier in the Himalayas, thanks to the thaw in relations between India and Pakistan.

Talks between India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and the Pakistani president, General Pervez Musharraf, at the weekend in New York have resulted in a flurry of diplomatic activity after months when the peace process seemed to be going nowhere.

Pranab Mukherjee, India's defence minister, said the military-level talks would defuse tension over the glacier, which was the scene of fierce fighting in 1999 during the "Kargil war", a reference to the peaks overlooking the frozen wasteland.

It was reported that Gen Musharraf had also assured the Indian prime minister that the Pakistani army would not occupy the glacier if Indian troops withdrew. This gesture was seen as a breakthrough in the talks.

A ceasefire along the 75-mile actual ground position line (AGPL) on Siachen has held since last November.

Siachen has been an issue between the two countries since 1984 and is at present occupied by India.