NEW DELHI, 6 October 2005 — At a height of over 7,000 meters, the Siachen glacier, perched in the snowcapped Himalayan mountain range, is the world’s highest battlefield.
Indian and Pakistani troops have been stationed in the inhospitable terrain, where temperatures in winter drop to a freezing minus 50 degrees centigrade, since 1984.
They have fought occasional battles, but have lost more men to avalanches and the weather than to each other. But soon, the soldiers — Indian and Pakistani — may be able to knock the dreaded Siachen posting off their rosters. India and Pakistan announced Tuesday after a meeting of their foreign ministers in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, that they hoped to reach a “common understanding” on Siachen by January 2006.
“The two sides exchanged ideas on the Siachen issue and agreed to continue their discussions so as to arrive at a common understanding before commencement of the next round of the composite dialogue in January next year,” said a joint statement.
The two nuclear-capable South Asian neighbors began bilateral talks to resolve all disputes, including that on Siachen and the Kashmir region, in January 2004.
If all goes well, an agreement on Siachen may be the first contentious issue to be resolved, said an Indian diplomatic official.
Analysts here point out that both countries have everything to gain and little to lose by withdrawing from the glacier.
Habitation is impossible and little grows on the Siachen, which ironically translates as “place of wild roses.” The flowers are found in the valleys below.
Indian troops control the heights — which they gained in a swift tactical move in 1984. But it can only fly in troops as Pakistan controls a key pass that leads to the Leh Valley in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state.
India flies in everything — troops, ammunition, equipment, fuel — to its icy outpost. According to official estimates it costs the country about $300 million annually to maintain the 150-odd posts with 2,000 or so men. For Pakistan, the cost to the exchequer is about $200 million a year. It saves on aviation fuel having access by land.
These are large expenditures for any developing county.
Since 1984, the two countries have lost more than 4,000 men in the Siachen. A bulk of them have died from cold, altitude sickness or in accidents on the craggy, crevice-ridden terrain.
When British-ruled India gained independence as two nations — India and Pakistan — in 1947, the line of control (LOC) which divides the Himalayan Kashmir region between the two countries was accepted as an informal border. But the LOC stopped short of Siachen, north of Kashmir, as it was presumed that no one would want to inhabit the icy, inhospitable heights. The glacier was more or less ignored until the 1970s when Pakistan permitted several mountaineering expeditions, prompting India to rush in as well with an army expedition.
This was followed by a desparate scramble to the top by the armies of both countries in 1984. The troops have stayed since then.
“We feel these boundaries are important, not only for our security, but it relates to the country’s prestige as well,” said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a visit to the glacier earlier this year. He is the first Indian prime minister to make the trip. Pakistani leaders have echoed similar sentiments in the past. But strategists say the Siachen is not crucial to the South Asian power game. More so since the two countries demonstrated their nuclear capability in 1988.
Pakistan wants withdrawal of troops on the Siachen to positions held 20 years ago. India is agreeable, said sources, but on condition that the current positions are marked on the map. Musharraf said after his meeting with Singh in New York that considerable progress had been made on Siachen.
Indian officials indicated after the foreign ministers’ meeting Tuesday that most nitty gritty issues had been sorted out but some remained. The main difference is over a mechanism to verify the existing positions of the respective troops. They are hoping these issues will be resolved by January when Singh is scheduled to visit Pakistan and the soldiers will be able to leave their igloo barracks for warmer climes.
