28 years of Siachen battle and still counting

It was 28 years ago on April 13 that India started an operation on the world’s highest and unforgiving battleground – the Siachen Glacier – and it is continuing still at the cost of lives of 950 Indian soldiers and an annual spending of around Rs. 730 crore.

The guns have been silent in the region since 2003, but the death of 120 Pakistani soldiers on April 7 in an avalanche hitting their side of the Glacier has been reminder of the price both the countries are paying to assert their claims over the frozen and barren peaks. Despite, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh repeatedly expressing his desire to turn Siachen into “Glacier of Peak” the solution of the nearly three decade imbroglio is not in sight.

“We have been spending on an average Rs. 2 crore daily to maintain our posts in the Glacier. We have tried to bring down the costs through various innovations like clothing, shelters and food for the soldiers,” said a defence official.

When Indian Armed forces were preparing to capture the dominating heights in the 76-km long Glacier of slow moving ice under Operation Meghdoot in 1984, it was an unchartered territory for them. To pre-empt Pakistani troops the Indian Air Force (IAF) operated its helicopters for the first time in the Glacier (stretching their prescribed working capacity) and the Indian Army troops trekked up to 23,000 feet – where Oxygen is rare and temperature can plummet to 60 degrees below zero.

Ill-equipped in terms of clothing and living facilities, both countries have lost more men to weather than to the bullet. On the Indian side while 950 soldiers lost their lives, over 12,000 have suffered cold related injuries like frost-bite and hypothermia.

“Now we have sourced better winter clothing for the troops, the Defence Scientists have laid down a proper acclimatization procedure for the troops going there to avoid casualties. And tenure of soldiers in the glacier is now restricted to three months at a stretch,” said officials. According to research times spent in the Glacier beyond this period can cause forgetfulness and will actually reduce the longevity of the soldiers posted there.

Availability of packaged food and contribution of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to grow vegetable for the soldiers in the cold desert of Ladakh has also helped in cutting the cost and boosting the morale of the force. A visit at Siachen base camp will reflect of the advent of technology has eased the drudgery of the one of the longest stand-off between two armies across the globe – like better communication network.

However, still a soldier has to trek for 128 kms in 28 days to reach the Bana post – the highest on the Indian side at 23,000 kms. Indians are sitting on dominating positions on the Glacier with a great strategic value for acting as buffer between Chinese controller Shaksgam valley and Pakistan occupied Baltistan.

The bone of contention is that 1949 Karachi agreement mentions no demarcation of border between the two countries beyond a peak marked NJ-9842 for reference and mentions that thereafter the border lies northward of the Glacier. This leaves a room for interpretation.

Pakistan claims that the line joins NJ 9842 with Karakoram Pass, which is North West of NJ 9842. The Indian position is that the line runs towards the glaciers along the watersheds formed by the Saltoro Range as per the internationally accepted principle of border delineation.

(Also read  Siachen Glacier )