Siachen Glacier – Hold the position or Let it go

Siachen Glacier – Hold the position or Let it go

Known to the world as the highest battleground on earth, Siachen has been in the news since 1984, ironically Siachen means ‘Place of Wild Roses’ however the terrain does not have anything but snow all across. India and Pakistan have maintained their military presence at a height of more than 20,000 feet; even when the death toll data of soldiers are more in this region than deaths due to combats between the two countries.

This glacier region till date is not populated leaving the military presence, the harsh weather takes the temperature down to a – 50 degree and the average snowfall in winters is 35 feet. On the Indian side, the village of Warshi is the only place where the civilian population is present, this is way before the Indian base camp.

There have been various series of discussions on de-militarize the region as the cost of managing military positions in this region takes a huge cut of the defense budget of both the countries, however instances in the past like the Kargil war and other infiltration bids have always led to a failure in this region.

Siachen was in the news recently when an avalanche on the glacier buried more than hundred Pakistani soldiers at their military headquarters in the early hour of morning on 7th April. The Pakistani president on his visit to India discussed about signing an agreement on the Siachen Glacier, he suggested that this move will surely strengthen Indian ties with the Pakistani people and also tone down the military relations between the two countries.

However to let the positions also go away could prove costly for India as it holds some of very strategic positions in that region since 1984. There always were earlier attempts by Pakistani forces to take these positions however they failed in all the attempts till date.