Pakistan called for negotiations with rival nuclear power India over a disputed Himalayan glacier on Wednesday, an apparent softening in attitude toward a neighbour with which it has fought three wars since 1947. Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani also said that "peaceful coexistence" with India was important so that both countries could "concentrate on the well-being of the people."
Kayani noted India began the conflict, but said it "should be resolved" and "how it is resolved the two countries have to talk about." He made the comments in a rare question and answer session with the media after visiting the site of an avalanche near the glacier that last week buried more than 125 Pakistani soldiers.
Army chief also said he would like to see the country spend less on defence, arguing that national security depended on development as much as on protecting borders.
Chief of the Army Staff, General Ashfaq Kayani, said "peaceful coexistence" with arch-rivals India was vital to both countries and the welfare of the people should be a priority.
The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought several wars since independence in 1947 and both spend heavily on their military while millions of their people languish in poverty. "Peaceful coexistence between the two neighbours is very important so that everybody can concentrate on the well-being of the people," he told reporters.
Pakistan and India invest significant resources in maintaining a military presence on the Siachen Glacier - dubbed "the world's highest battleground" - and the tragedy has sparked lively debate about the human and financial cost of defending an uninhabitable patch of snow and rock.
Kayani said soldiers would do their duty come what may, but defending borders should not be the country's sole priority.
"We in the army understand very well that there should be a very good balance between defence and development. You cannot be spending on defence alone and forgetting about development," he said. "Ultimately the security of a country is not only that you secure boundaries and borders but it is when people that live in the country feel happy, their needs are being met. Only in that case will a country be truly safe."
He said national security should be a comprehensive concept. "And therefore we would like to spend less on defence, definitely," he said.
"Any country should do the same - more focus should be on the welfare of the people." Kashmir has been the cause of two wars between India and Pakistan and the nuclear-armed rivals fought over Siachen in 1987, though guns on the glacier have largely fallen silent since a peace process began in 2004.