New Delhi, Jan. 18: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today sought out positive strains from a briefing by foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee on his visit to Pakistan, giving further impetus to efforts to resolve the dispute in Siachen in a way that would allow both Islamabad and Delhi to claim minor victories.

The Cabinet Committee on Security met this morning and took stock of talks with Pakistan, besides deciding on minor military acquisitions.

Mukherjee returned from Islamabad on Sunday after a visit where Siachen figured largely in the talks. The government’s drive to work out a package on Siachen — and probably pave the way for Singh’s visit to Pakistan — follows an initiative taken by the Prime Minister himself, a senior government source said.

Singh’s initiative comes alongside notes of caution that are a regular from the army, which has consistently said it cannot agree to a pullout till Pakistan authenticates the Actual Ground Position Line.

National security analyst and Siachen expert Brigadier (retired) Gurmeet Kanwal, who last year proposed an eight-stage demilitarisation in a presentation to the security establishment, said: “I think demilitarisation of Siachen is an idea whose time has come.

“The army never really had a veto on Siachen but it has always had a point of view. Moving towards resolving Siachen is a low-risk option to kick-start the peace process though it is difficult to trust Pakistan.”