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| Delhi in no hurry to withdraw troops from glacier | | Cost of a chapatti is Rs 10,000 at Siachen! | | NEW DELHI, MAR 24
The Siachen story is to be told once again--this time in Rawalpindi where the Defence Secretaries of India and Pakistan are scheduled to meet on April 6. While Islamabad is for demilitarization, New Delhi is in no hurry to pull troops back from the Siachen glacier in the strategic Ladakh region. Pakistan President, Gen. Parvez Musharraf, is understood to have conveyed to Indian Premier, Manmohan Singh, that Pakistan would not capture Siachen even if Indian vacated it.
True, New Delhi is for a peaceful settlement of the dispute it has with Islamabad over the Siachen glacier. But it is almost certain that New Delhi will not withdraw troops from the glacier on the basis of Gen. Musharraf's offer. Yet, it is had to find a rationale for why soldiers armed to the teeth should perch on a glacier 18,000 feet above sea level, ducking shells and lobbing an occasional grenade back at adversaries below.
It costs the Indian taxpayer over Rs 1,500 crores per year to keep soldiers at Siachen. The cost of a chapatti, by the time it reaches the highest battlefield in the world, is reckoned at Rs 10,000. Senior officials in the Defence Ministry and the Army Headquarters are of the view that things would have been different altogether if Pakistan had not proved itself undependable while dragging India into the Pak-sponsored Kargil war in 1999. And the progress in the ongoing India-Pakistan peace process notwithstanding, New Delhi continues to be highly cautions in its dealings with Islamabad with regard to the Siachen issue.
Significantly, even as India and Pakistan discuss the possibility of demilitarizing the Siachen glacier, the Indian Army is going ahead with long-term plans to ferry its troops and keep them replenished in the region with supplies of food and ammunition. The Army has already received helicopters, especially designed for operation in high altitude areas from three major manufacturers based in Russia, the USA and Europe. The need for a new chopper has been acutely felt, especially after the 1999 Kargil conflict when the Army's surveillance and casualty evacuation duties in the region increased manifold.
Of all the issues that have bedevilled India-Pakistan relations, that of Siachen is arguably the most amenable to a solution that is satisfactory for both parties to the dispute. Indeed, a solution was in sight as early as 1989 but political and military developments in the years that followed clouded the prospect. A report, now in circulation in Pakistan, says that Gen. Musharraf has asured Manmohan Singh that his troops will not seize the Siachen glacier should Indian troops vacate it.
Come April 6, New Delhi's stand will be known during the Defence Secretary-level talks on the Siachen issue. There is another problem as well that demands attention: How far can India depend upon Gen. Musharraf to actually deliver on this assurance?
There are two aspects that present themselves. The first is the Pakistan General's own dependability. After all, he has in the past used the Siachen conflict to justify the Kargil incursion. What guarantee does Indian now have that Pakistan will not renege on any commitment that it may make on not occupying the Siachen glacier--that was captured and held at such tremendous cost in terms of both human lives and funds--once it is vacated?
The immense difficulties entailed in recapturing the Siachen glacier should peace moves prove abortive is an issue that has long worried the Indian Army. Second, even if India were to trust Gen. Musharraf on the issue, how depend is the General's word given the uncertainities that mark his own position as Pakistan's undisputed head?
This then is slippery territory and India, according to a top Indian Military Intelligence functionary, should be certain of its footholds as it negotiates its way. India should take care only to commit itself to a phased withdrawal of its ground troops so that it can keep the option of protecting its interests--including the use of air power--should there be any movement of Pakistani troops across what has now come to be known as the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) in Siachen.
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