World's Highest Battle Field

Siachen Glacier is located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayan Mountains. The glacier is the most prominent feature of the Saltoro mountain range, which lies at the extreme northwest of India's Karakorum region.

On the edge of the glacial moraine soldiers live in igloos called Bana or Bhim in Hindi and are served an extravagant menu whilst clothed in the expensive high altitude gear. Supplying troops with a loaf of bread costs two rupees (four U.S. cents) in the plains and 200 rupees on Siachen because it has to be taken by a helicopter. Not any ordinary helicopter but indigenously developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) that can generate lift in the extremely thin air at this altitude. The world's highest helipad also exists here at Sonam, at a height of 21,000 feet. We have also installed the world's highest telephone booth on the glacier.

Ironically, the strategic importance of the glacier, where neither side had troops until 1984, is debatable. After partition in 1947, neither India not Pakistan bothered to extend the line of control between Pakistan and India up to Siachen because no one thought it was worth bothering about.

The Siachen Glacier, located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalaya Mountains, is one of the five largest glaciers in the Karakoram, situated at an average altitude of 18,000 feet above sea level. At 78 km long, it is the longest glacier in the Karakoram and second-longest in the world's non-polar areas. Most of the Siachen Glacier falls under the LoC (Line of Control), a hotly contested territory between Pakistan and India. Since 1984, both countries have been fighting intermittently for sovereignty over this region, because of which the Siachen glacier is sometimes called the highest battleground on earth.

The conflict in Siachen stems from the incompletely demarcated territory on the map of this region. After the Indo-Pakistan war in 1971, an agreement was signed between the two countries in 1972, which came to be known as the Shimla Agreement, but it failed to clearly mention who controlled the glacier. UN officials presumed there would be no dispute between India and Pakistan over such a cold and barren region. They were wrong.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, in the pretext of climbing the high peaks on this glacier, Pakistan sent expeditions with permits issued by the Government of Pakistan. The idea was to reinforce claim on the area, as these expeditions arrived with a permit obtained from the Government of Pakistan. In 1984, when the Pakistan army attempted to move into the region, India launched a successful military operation and has since maintained control over all of the Siachen Glacier and its tributaries. Between 1984 and 1999, frequent skirmishes took place between India and Pakistan. However, more soldiers have died in Siachen from harsh weather conditions than from enemy firing. Both India and Pakistan maintain permanent military presence in the region at a height of over 6,000 metres (20,000 ft), and continue to deploy thousands of troops in Siachen.

It is the world's highest battlefield, with troops stationed higher than the most North American, European or African mountains. At 6,300 meters (20,700 feet) India controls these breathless heights at an estimated cost of up to $1 million a day and is reluctant to back off for fear Pakistan might walk in. Yet, there is no doubt the logistical and physical challenge of supplying troops at sub-zero conditions beggars belief. 

However, the 75-km (47-mile) glacier, one of the longest outside of the poles has come to represent a lot more. Here soldiers are left to stare and shoot at each other across the line of control in a complex of trenches and bunkers. Frozen eatables, blurred speeches, frostbites and chilblains are common and plummeting temperatures leave scores dead. Yet plenty of volunteers file along the roads of Jammu and Kashmir up to Siachen in the belief that after serving -- and surviving -- a three-month stretch on the high front line they can expect a boost to their military career.

The fact is the human body continuously deteriorates above 18,000 feet and with winter temperatures of 70 degrees below zero, the inhospitable climate in Siachen has claimed more lives than gunfire. But nothing seems to shake the resolve of governments in the warm capitals far away.

Any talk of a mutual withdrawal from the crippling environment is always referred to in the context of pulling back from the entire line of control -- something both nuclear-armed powers are unlikely to do, say observers.At these dizzying heights, breathing can also be a huge effort and many soldiers suffer from high-altitude pulmonary and cerebral edema, headaches and hypertension. Unlike mountaineers, who usually  climb during the best weather, Siachen soldiers endure the worst the mountains can throw at them, year-round. Avalanches are frequent and terrifying; their  thunder is so great that it's often impossible to distinguish from shelling. Blizzards can last 20 days. Winds reach speeds of 125 miles per hour; temperatures can plunge to minus 60 degrees. Annual snowfall exceeds 35 feet.  During storms, two or three men have to shovel snow at all times. If they stop,  they will never catch up and the post will be buried alive.   

As long as Pakistan and India remain at deadlock over Kashmir, troops will remain on the blizzard-blasted Siachen glacier. It is likely that any eventual withdrawal from Siachen, which has claimed so many lives, will be less painful to give up than any other positions. 

source : Internet