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Siachen War

The Siachen War was a military fight between India and Pakistan over a glacier in the Kashmir region. It began in 1984 when India took control of the Siachen Glacier during Operation Meghdoot and continued with Operation Rajiv in 1987. India now controls the glacier and the nearby mountain passes. Even though a ceasefire was agreed upon in 2003, both countries still have a large number of troops in the area. The extreme weather and harsh conditions have caused thousands of deaths. Many observers see the conflict as unnecessary because the glacier itself has little practical value.[13][14][15][16][17]

Siachen conflict
Part of the Kashmir conflict
Kashmir map.svg
Labelled map of the greater Kashmir region; the Siachen Glacier lies in the Karakoram Range and its snout is situated less than 50 km (31 mi) north of the Ladakh Range
Date13 April 1984 (1984-04-13) – 25 November 2003 (2003-11-25)[1][2]
(19 years, 7 months, 1 week and 5 days)
Location
Siachen Glacier, Kashmir
Result Indian victory
Territorial
changes		 India gains control of 2,500 km2 (970 sq mi)[3] of territory in the glacier region, incorporates it into the state of Jammu and Kashmir (now Ladakh)
Belligerents
 India  Pakistan
Commanders and leaders
Strength
3,000+[5] 3,000[5]
Casualties and losses
  • 36 casualties during initial conflict[6][7]
  • 1,100+ dead (including non-combat fatalities) after initial conflict[8][9][10][11]
  • 200 casualties during initial conflict[7][12]

Causes

UN map of Siachen

The Siachen Glacier is the highest battlefield in the world, where India and Pakistan have fought off and on since April 13, 1984. Both countries keep soldiers there all the time, even though it's over 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) high and extremely difficult to live in. More than 2,000 people have died, mostly because of the harsh weather and dangerous mountain conditions rather than direct fighting.

Paragraph B 2 (d) of Karachi Agreement

After the UN helped broker a ceasefire in 1949, India and Pakistan agreed on a boundary up to a point called NJ9842, near the Siachen Glacier. However, the difficult-to-reach land beyond that was not officially marked on maps, only described in a general way in the Karachi Agreement.[18]

After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and the Simla Agreement in 1972, the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan was renamed the Line of Control (LoC). It stretched from the Chhamb sector, near the international border, up to the Turtok-Partapur sector in the north. However, the description of the northernmost part was unclear, stating that the LoC runs northeast to Thang (controlled by India) and then eastward to the glaciers. This vague wording led to confusion and eventually contributed to the ongoing dispute over the Siachen Glacier.[19]

Page-1 of U.N. Map Number S/1430/Add.2 to Karachi Agreement 1949
Page-2 of U.N. Map Number S/1430/Add.2 showing the CFL
Page-3 U.N. Map Number S/1430/Add.2 showing the CFL up to Point NJ 9842

Siachen War Media

  • Page-1 of U.N. Map Number S/1430/Add.2 to Karachi Agreement 1949

  • Page-2 of U.N. Map Number S/1430/Add.2 showing the CFL

  • Page-3 U.N. Map Number S/1430/Add.2 showing the CFL up to Point NJ 9842

  • Present Map of Indian territory of Ladakh including entire Siachen glacier

  • A memorial at the headquarters of the Dogra Regiment of the Indian Army in remembrance of members of the regiment who died or served in the Siachen Conflict.

  • Red dotted line is AGPL, right of which is Siachen Glacier controlled by Indian army.

References

  1. ↑ Baruah, Amit. "India, Pak. ceasefire comes into being". The Hindu (26 November 2003). http://www.thehindu.com/2003/11/26/stories/2003112604940100.htm. Retrieved 21 April 2018. 
  2. ↑ P. Hoontrakul; C. Balding; R. Marwah, eds. (2014). The Global Rise of Asian Transformation: Trends and Developments in Economic Growth Dynamics (illustrated ed.). Springer. p. 37. ISBN 9781137412362. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2018. Siachen conflict (1984—2003)
    Victorious: India / Defeated: Pakistan
  3. ↑ Desmond/Kashmir, Edward W. (31 July 1989). "The Himalayas War at the Top Of the World". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,958254-2,00.html. Retrieved 11 October 2008. 
  4. ↑ Kulkarni, Ramesh; Karpe, Anjali (26 October 2022). Siachen, 1987: Battle for the Frozen Frontier. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-93-5629-473-8.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "War at the Top of the World". Time. 7 November 2005. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1079528-1,00.html. Retrieved 11 October 2011. 
  6. ↑ "Army chief to visit Siachen this week". The Times of India. 8 January 2020. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/army-chief-to-visit-siachen-this-week/articleshow/73147134.cms. Retrieved 8 January 2020. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Illustrated Weekly of India – Volume 110, Issues 14–26. Times of India. Pakistani troops were forced out with over 200 casualties as against 36 Indian fatalities
  8. ↑ "Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Bonds With Soldiers At Siachen Over Jalebi". NDTV. 4 June 2019. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  9. ↑ "Rajnath Singh visits Siachen to review security situation, pays tribute to martyrs – PICS". Times Now News. 3 June 2019. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019. Rajnath Singh also paid tribute to the martyred soldiers who sacrificed their lives while serving in Siachen. He went on to say, "More than 1,100 soldiers have made supreme sacrifice defending the Siachen glacier. The nation will always remain indebted to their service and sacrifice."
  10. ↑ 846 Indian soldiers have died in Siachen since 1984 – Rediff.com News Archived 12 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Rediff.com. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "Six dead after avalanche hits Army positions in Northern Siachen". The Times of India (TOI). 19 November 2019. Archived from the original on 20 November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  12. ↑ "In Siachen 869 army men died battling the elements". The Hindu. http://m.thehindu.com/news/national/in-siachen-869-army-men-died-battling-the-elements/article7978149.ece. Retrieved 12 December 2015. 
  13. ↑ Desmond, Edward W. (31 July 1989). "The Himalayas War at the Top Of the World". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,958254-2,00.html. Retrieved 11 October 2008. 
  14. ↑ Wilkinson, Freddie (18 February 2021). "How a tiny line on a map led to conflict in the Himalaya". National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/how-a-tiny-line-on-a-map-led-to-conflict-in-the-himalaya-feature. Retrieved 19 November 2021. 
  15. ↑ Child, Greg (1998). Thin air: encounters in the Himalayas. The Mountaineers Books, 1998. ISBN 9780898865882.
  16. ↑ Wirsing, Robert (15 November 1991). Pakistan's security under Zia, 1977–1988: the policy imperatives of a peripheral Asian state. Palgrave Macmillan, 1991. ISBN 9780312060671.
  17. ↑ Watson, Paul (26 November 2003). "India and Pakistan Agree to Cease-Fire in Kashmir". Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-26-fg-ceasefire26-story.html. Retrieved 27 April 2017. 
  18. ↑ P R Chari; Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema; Stephen P Cohen (2 September 2003). Perception, Politics and Security in South Asia: The Compound Crisis of 1990 (2003) (2003 ed.). Routledge (London); 1 edition (16 May 2003). p. 53. ISBN 978-0415307970. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  19. ↑ P R Chari; Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema; Stephen P Cohen (2 September 2003). Perception, Politics and Security in South Asia: The Compound Crisis of 1990 (2003) (2003 ed.). Routledge (London); 1 edition (16 May 2003). p. 53. ISBN 978-0415307970. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
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