Defence officials from Pakistan and India on Friday began the final round of talks aimed at finding a formula for withdrawal of troops from the Siachen glacier, the world's highest battlefield.
The dialogue began in Islamabad on Thursday, amid hopes the two sides could at least narrow their differences if not reach agreement on a pullback of the thousands of soldiers deployed there for the past 21 years.
A resolution of the Siachen standoff would be a major boost to the peace process between the South Asian nuclear rivals.
The glacier is claimed by both countries, and hundreds of soldiers have died on the frontline, deployed as high as 6,700 meters (22,000 feet). Far more have perished from the weather and altitude sickness than hostile fire.
The guns fell silent in November 2003 when the two countries agreed to a cease-fire across the Line of Control in Kashmir.
On Friday, a defence ministry official said the two sides have resumed talks, but he would not go into details.
"We will issue a joint statement at the conclusion of the talks," said the official, who did not want to be named.
Pakistan and India have held several rounds of talks on the glacier in the past -- most recently in New Delhi in August -- but have failed to reach any agreement.
The Siachen glacier is part of a larger dispute of Kashmir between the two nations. Kashmir is divided between Pakistan and India with a cease-fire line, but the border in Siachen has never been demarcated.
When the Line of Control that divides Kashmir was set by the two countries after a 1971 war it only reached a point on the map called NJ 9842 and didn't extend to the northern glacier because it was considered uninhabitable.
India says the border should run northward in a straight line up to the Chinese border, while Pakistan says it should go to the northeast following the angle of the Line of Control.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars after gaining independence from Britain in 1947, but since 2004, they have taken steps to improve relations and resolve all disputes, including Kashmir.
Earlier report:
9th round of Siachen talks begin
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