An eight-member Indian delegation headed by Defence Secretary Ajai Vikram Singh will arrive in Islamabad on Wednesday on a three-day visit to hold talks with Pakistani officials on the world's highest battlefield, Siachen.

Singh will hold talks with his Pakistan counterpart, Retd General Tariq Waseem Ghazi, on Siachen as part of the composite dialogue process between the two countries, a Pakistan defence press release in Islamabad said on Tuesday.

The talks will be held on May 26 and 27.

Officials said the two sides will focus on narrowing differences regarding the withdrawal of troops from Siachen.

Pakistan says that it was ready for mutual troop withdrawal based on the 1989 agreement between the two countries.

• Kashmir: Pak wants international guarantees

India, however, insists that Pakistan should authenticate the current advanced positions held by the Indian troops on the maps, which Pakistan has been consistently refusing saying that India took control of the positions in violation of the Shimla Accord.

India denies the charge.

Earlier, the two countries held several rounds of talks, but without success.

This is the second round of talks being held under the current round of the composite dialogue process to resolve differences on Kashmir and other contentious issues.

The Siachen talks will be followed by another round of talks on May 28 and 29 on the issue of Sir Creek, the small coastal strip on the Gujarat coast.

The talks were expected to focus on the joint survey of boundary pillars conducted by the defence officials of the two countries last year.