The Siachen
Conflict
By M.M. Munshi
“Siachen”
is more well
known as the highest battleground on earth
rather than place of wild roses,
i.e , what it means in the Balti dialect,
where India and Pakistan have fought intermittently since April
1984. Both countries maintain permanent armed forces in the region at a height
of about 6,000 meters. More than 3, 500 soldiers have died in the inhospitable
terrain mostly due to extreme weather sub zero temperatures, blizzards,
avalanches and
ailments associated with extreme cold and rarity of air rather than actual
fighting. Siachen is
the second longest
glacier outside the polar regions after
the 77 kilometer long Fedchenko glacier
of the Pamirs in Tajkistan
It is 70 Kilometers long and
is located
on the southern flank of the Eastern part
of Karakoram Range flanked on the west by Saltoro ridge
and in the east by main Karakoram Range, immediately south of the
great watershed that separates Indian Sub continent
from Eastern Turkistan- Sinkiang the
modern Xinjiang autonomous province of China, in the extensively glaciated
region and sometimes called the third pole. The Karakoram is itself a misnomer
used earlier by western
geographers after the Turki word meaning black
gravel. and not be confused with Qara Qorum the capital of Gengis Khan in
Mongolia. The crest of the Saltoro
ridge varying
in altitude between 7,722
meters (25,330 ft) and 5,451
meters (17,880 ft.) bifurcates from the main Karakorum Range slightly north of
Sia Kangri Peak, extends in a south and southeasterly direction
The main passes on this ridge from north to south are Sia La 5,590 meters
(18,336 ft.) Bilafond La 5,451 meters (17,880 ft.) and Gyong La 5,690 meters
(18,665 ft.) The average winter snow fall is about 12
metesr (40 ft.) and
temperature falls to about minus 55
degrees C. The catchment
area of the Siachen glacier system including its feeding tributaries covers
about 720 sq
kilometers (275 Sq. miles) The
glacier descends
from the head of
its accumulation
zone at an
altitude of about 6,000
meters (20,000 ft) to its snout at the end of its zone of ablation 3,621
meters (11,875 ft) much below the perpetual snow line in the area. The firn
line traverses
the glacier at about 5,121
meters (15,800 ft.)
The roots
of the conflict over the Siachen
lie in the non-demarcation of
the cease fire line northwards of point NJ9842. In the Karachi agreement 1948-49
it was surmised by
both India and
Pakistan. that it
was not feasible for human habitation to survive north
of point NJ 9842. The UN Officials presumed that there would be no
dispute between India and Pakistan
over such a cold and bleak area . In 1972 Simla agreement also
did not clearly mention as to who actually controlled the glacier ,merely
stating that from the point NJ0842 the LOC would run northwards.
Today the
two sides have about 150 pickets with about
3000 troops on either side ..Official figures for maintaining these
pickets are $300 and $200 million for
India and Pakistan respectively. India has constructed the world’s
highest helipad at
Point Sonam at 6,402 meter(21,000 ft) to ferry and supply the
troops. The problem of
reinforcing and evacuating
from this ridge line
led to India’s development
of it’s indigenous
Dhruv Mk II Helicopter , powered by the Shakti
engine which
was flight tested to
land and lift personal and stores from the Sonam
point the highest
permanently manned helipad in the world.. India also installed at Siachen
the world’s highest telephone booth in
the world
In 1957
a British expedition
under Eric Shipton
with the permission of Pakistani authorities approached Siachen Glacier
via Bilaford
La and carried
out reconnaissance of Saltoro
Kangri In 1962
two Japanese and one Pakistani
climber scaled the
Saltoro Kangri. By
about 1967 the United States Defense Mapping Agency
[At present Geospatial
–Intelligence Agency] without any legal or historical justification
or any documentation pertaining to boundary started showing on their
Tactical Charts available to Public and pilots as proceeding northwards from
NJ9842 east northeast to Karakoram
Pass* on the China border on Pakistan’s side of the Cease Fire Line.
Numerous government and private
cartographers and
publishers of atlases followed
suit. This was further followed
by United States Cartographically
“awarding “ the entire
4,880sq. kms (1,900Sq miles ) of the Siachen –Saltoro area to Pakistan. In
1970s and early 1980s Pakistan permitted a number of mountaineering expeditions
to climb the high peaks
in the Siachen area due in part to United States Defense Mapping Agency.
And Teram Kangri I
and Teram Kangri II were climbed by a Japanese Expedition
led by Katayama which
approached Siachen via Bilafond La.. This was done to reinforce the idea that
Siachen Glacier was under the control of Pakistan .In 1978 Indian government
having taken notice of this and as a counter measure Army mounted a
mountaineering expedition led by Col.N.Kumar [then
commanding officer of Indian Army’s High Altitude Warfare School ] to
Teram Kangri
Peaks.and actually climbed Teram Kangri II the news and photographs of which were
given wide publicity
The first
public mention of a possible clash in Siachen area appeared as an article ”High
Politics in Karakoram “ in the Telegraph news paper of Calcutta in 1982
which was subsequently
reprinted in the Alpine journal London under the title “Oropolitics”
in 1984.
With
specific intelligence of a Pakistani operation India launched operation
Meghdooot [named after the divine
cloud messenger in a Sanskrit play by Kalidasa] on 13th April 1984. When about 300 men of the
Kumaon Regiment supported
by Indian Air Force entered Siachen area and quickly
took control of the Sia La and
Bilafond La on the Saltoro ridge a week earlier before
the arrival of Pakistanis
Pakistanis finally found
three hundred Indian soldiers firmly dug on the highest
mountain tops. The contiguous area is about 1000 sq miles (2600 Sq
Kilometers). According to
a now
retired Pakistani Colonel
Pakistani authorities
committed an intelligence blunder “by ordering Arctic weather gear from a
London based firm which also supplied to Indians Once the Indians got wind of it
they ordered 300 outfits –twice
as many as Pakistanis had and rushed their men to Siachen.”
After 1984
Pakistanis launched several attacks to dislodge Indians from their positions but
without any success. The most determined attack came in 1987
with newly raised
elite SSG commando
led by Pervez Mushraf [latter Army
Chief and President of Pakistan] with
the aim of capturing Bilaford La but after bitter fighting including hand to
hand combat, with troops of J & K light Infantry Pakistanis were thrown back
and position remained unchanged. In this action
Niab Subedar
Banna Singh of the JAK Light Infantry now retired Subedar Major and Honorary
Captain was
awarded the Param Vir Chakra –India’s highest military decoration awarded
for highest degree of valor in presence of the enemy Pakistan made repeated
attempts in
1990,1995, 19996 and even early 1999. In 1995 the attack by the Pakistani SSG
was significant as it resulted in high
casualties among the Pakistani
commandos.
The Indian
troops dominate the
entire 70 Kilometers length
of the Siachen Glacier and all its tributary glaciers
as well as the main passes of
Saltoro Ridge immediately west of the glacier – Sia La, Bilafond La
and Gyong La thus
holding the tactical advantage of the high ground while
Pakistanis control the glacial valley five kilometers
south-west of Gyong
La. The Pakistanis despite their best efforts
have been unable to get up to the crest of Saltoro
ridge while Indians
cannot afford to withdraw
from their high posts by
coming down the line where Indian and Pakistani troops
are holding on to their posts is.
After the
army personal of both sides having
suffered more from extreme cold, bad weather amd other factors at high
altitudes in the
past both countries had
desired to disengage from the costly military
confrontation of the highest battlefield in the world i.e Siachen and
negotiations were held but resulted in failure
as Pakistan was and is not
willing to give official recognition to the present status.
One of the
factors behind the Kargil War of 1999 when Pakistan sent their regular troops
mostly from their Northern Light Infantry in the garb of Mujahids
across the LOC to occupy the Indian posts vacated for the winter with the
belief that India would be forced to
withdraw from Siachen in exchange for
a Pakistani withdrawal from
Kargil heights. Though a cease fire is in force since
2003 ,but after the Kargil War India decided to maintain
its military outposts on the glacier wary of Pakistani intrusions into Jammu
& Kashmir if they vacate from the glacier
without an official recognition of the present status from Pakistan. for which the latter is not prepared. Since September
2007 India has opened up
the area for mountaineering and trekking expeditions. The first group
included cadets from Chail Military School, National Defense Academy , National
Cadet Corps , Indian Military Academy, Rastriya Indian Military College ,
followed by civilian trekking parties.. These expeditions prove that Indian
Troops hold almost
all the dominating heights
on the key Saltoro Ridge
and Pakistani Troops are not within 15
kms. of the
main Siachen Glacier Ignoring protests from Pakistan in
October 2008 trek was undertaken to send a message that every civilian can visit
this part of the country A senior Indian Officer explained “The civilian treks started
despite vehement
protests from Pakistan which termed it India’s tourism" in disputed territory. India maintains that it does not need
anybody’s approval for sending expeditions/trekking parties in its own
territory President Zardari of Pakistan during his recent visit to India
raked up the need for a solution for Siachen Issue. Pakistani Army Chief Gen,
Kiyani also
expressed a desire for demilitarization of
Siachen after an avalanche hit a Pakistani camp and buried 120 Pakistani
soldiers and 10 civilians
on 12th April 2012. But latter Foreign minister of Pakistan again claimed
Siachen as Pakistani territory. It
seems that fresh negotiations on the issue
are bound to fail as Pakistan is likely to insist
on demilitarization
first and demarcation of the status latter. While India is going to
insist on
official recognition first and withdrawal latter.
After all what is the guarantee that
a Pakistani Army Chief / General or President will not occupy
Siachen in future with so called freedom fighters / Mujahids?
Copyright
M.M. Munshi 2012
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