Siachen: Do Our Soldiers Need to Die to Defend a Barren Expanse?

In the aftermath of Hanamanthappa’s death, is it time for India and Pakistan to finally break the Siachen deadlock?

Indian army soldiers muster at their base camp after returning from training at Siachen Glacier in this file photo from 2003. (Photo: Reuters)

The heroic struggle for life of L/Nk Hanamanthappa magnetically drew the nation’s attention to the bravery and sacrifice of this gallant soldier. Surviving for six days under an avalanche in intense cold and high altitude, his was an unmatched example of courage and endurance. To the very end he lived up to his regimental motto Swadharme Nidhanam Shreyaha (It is glory to die doing one’s duty).

But, this could also be the beginning of another story. The continuing deployment of large forces in a rare glaciated region, in the sensitive Himalayas, is no tribute to sagacity or strategic planning. It is time this madness of fighting in the highest battlefield of the world was brought to a terminal end.

Pakistan’s Creeping Aggression Had to be Stopped

There is no doubt about the wisdom of Lt Gen ML Chibber, the then GOC in C Northern Command, with clearance from Delhi, in occupying the Saltoro Ridge. This area beyond NJ 9842, left undemarcated in 1949, led to all sorts of mischievous efforts by the Pakistan Army to go past this massif and attempt to link up with the Karakoram Pass. A creeping aggression we called it then, and it had to be stopped.

Other than this, the Saltoro Ridge and the Siachen glacier immediately to its East have no strategic significance at all. No military commander in his right mind will attempt to create a four-lane highway across this impassable region to transport forces and link up with China. Nor can these mountain tops dominate lower ground, which it cannot even see.

Seventy years since the end of World War II, ‘High Ground’ has lost all importance in battle.

File image of a Pakistan military helicopter on the other side of Siachen glacier, the world’s coldest battlefield. (Photo: Reuters)

Why Hold On?

Wars today are not merely three dimensional but will be fought at least in five, including space and cyber. Competent minds have examined this and have not been able to find suitable justification to hold on to the Saltoro Ridge. Except that the ground once captured in battle cannot be given up, no matter the cost to life and treasure.

Experts continue to claim that holding Siachen costs little money and that the Indian Army today suffers few casualties. Then this incident comes along as will others, surely, in the future.

Army’s rescue operation for the bodies of soliders who died in the avalanche. (Photo: IANS)

Aim is to Deny Possible Occupation

Many discussions were held in the past between India and Pakistan to resolve this issue. Some came close to a solution, particularly in 1989.

PM Manmohan Singh came closest to trying in June 2005. As the first Prime Minister of India to visit the region, he said the time had come to convert this region “into a peace mountain”. But objections were far too strong and the idea made no headway. The aim for India is not to surrender territory, which may yet be used mischievously, but to deny its possible occupation. Surely many ways are available to make this practical.

Then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shakes hands with Indian soldiers in Siachen in 2005. (Photo: Reuters)

Next there was the disaster in 2012 on the Pakistan side of the Saltoro Ridge, where around 130 of their soldiers were buried under a massive glacier. General Kayani, the then Army Chief was apparently willing to look at possible solutions. But by then India had given up hope of negotiations and this opportunity too was lost.

It is likely that our relations with Pakistan have not yet reached a state where constructive engagement is possible on substantive issues. Yet, on pragmatic mutually advantageous questions, surely we possess the requisite negotiating skills and owe it to our people to set in motion paths to a solution to truly demilitarise the Siachen Glacier region.

(Maj. Gen Dipankar Banerjee (retd) is from the 1St Gorkha Rifles, whose battalions have all had distinguished tenures in the Saltoro Ridge.)