Gokhale - Beyond NJ 9842: the Siachen saga

At the strategic level, one requires a long memory and a longer foresight and vision.

Boundaries are a manifestation of national identity. Disputed boundaries are often trip-wires of war. Siachen sits astride two disputed boundaries: with Pakistan and China. Nitin Gokhales book Beyond NJ 9842: The Siachen Saga has motivated me to write about its strategic significance for India and the complexities that come in the way of resolving this dispute.

Siachen lies in the Karakoram Range (beyond the Ladakh Range) in the Northwest of India. The Glacier descends from a height of 23,000 to 12,000 feet. It is 75 km long and covers about 10,000 sq km uninhabited terrain. Along with other glaciers in this area, it is an important source of water for the Indus River which passes through Ladakh and Kargil, and then into Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). The area is claimed by us on the basis of accession of J & K to India in October 1947 and the Karachi Agreement of 1949, which described the ceasefire line beyond NJ 9842 (Saltoro Ridge and beyond) to be running Northwards to the glaciers.

Pakistans cartographic attempt to join NJ 9842 to Karakoram Pass on the India-China boundary (a straight line moving Northeast instead of North) sending mountaineering expeditions and preparations to occupy it with military was foiled when India launched Operation Meghdoot in April 1984. Indian army occupied the Soltoro Ridge to secure the glacier and the territory to its east. This deployment (a) dominates Pakistani positions in the valley west of Soltoro Ridge (b) blocks infiltration possibilities across the Soltoro Ridge passes into Ladakh (c) prevents Pakistani military adventurism in Turtuk and areas to its south. Its Northernmost position at Indira Col overlooks the Shaqsgam Valley (illegally ceded by Pakistan to China) and denies Pakistani access to the Karakoram Pass. Since then the line dividing the military forces of India and Pakistan in the area north of Point NJ 9842 has come to be known as the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL).

Siachen has always been considered a military setback by the Pakistan Army. That the Indians dominate the area from the Saltoro Ridge and Pakistan troops are nowhere near Siachen Glacier is a fact never mentioned in public. The perceived humiliation manifests itself in many ways. When the Indian Army pre-empted Pakistan plans and occupied the Saltoro Ridge, Benazir Bhutto publicly taunted the Pakistani Army as fit only to fight its own citizens. She did that again when in 1987, Indian troops led by Naib Subedar Bana Singh captured the 21,000-feet Quaid-e-Azam Post in the area and renamed it Bana Post.

In Pakistan, Siachen is a subject that hurts, just like a thorn in its flesh. It is a psychological drain on the Pakistani Army. Pervez Musharraf had once commanded the Special Services Group (SSG) in this area and made several futile attempts to capture Indian posts. One of the motivating factors, and one of the military objectives of the Pakistan Army during the Kargil war in 1999 was to recapture part of the Siachen Glacier and cut off our vital communication links to this area. They failed and suffered heavy casualties.