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| Indian troops to stay put in Siachen sector | | Politicking on withdrawal will be harmful, warns Army | |
BL KAK
NEW DELHI, May 31
Back-channel talks on the future of troops on the 18,000-foot-high Siachen glacier in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir have borne little fruit, with the tough stand taken by the top echelons of the Army Headquarters in New Delhi and Udhampur-based Northern Command against the withdrwl of Indian troops from the militarily strategic trans-Himalayan location.
According to sources in the Indian Defence Ministry, a major breakthrough vis-a-vis the India-Pakistan dispute over Siachen sector is not in sight, even as the two countries are committed to resolving all outstanding issues through bilateral talks. The renewed talk by the Defence Minister, AK Antony, ruling out the troop reduction or withdrawal, these sources said, required to be studied in the context of the the absence of firm asurances from Islamabad that Pakistani troops would never re-occupy the areas once vacated by the Indian troops.
Before the Defence Minister communicated to his Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, the Army's standpoint against the talk of the troop withdrawal from the Siachen glacier, the Army's think-tank has warmed that any reduction ow withdrawal of troops from the glacier, if allowed on the basis on political considerations or compulsions, will prove disastrous in the long run. EARLY TIMES has been informed that the Military Intelligence (MI) specialists are in the possession of inputs, clearly suggesting that any solution or agreement on troop withdrawal from the Siachen glacier, if based on political considerations or compulsions, is quite likely to be resisted by men in uniform.
Defence Minister Antony has once again been told by the Army Hequarters that he talk of troop reduction or withdrawal cannot be, and should not be, delinked from the two "most important realities"--one, the existence in Pakistan of the infrastructure of terrorism, and, two, New Delhi's Siachen proposal or formula has met with skepticism from Islamabad. Attention of the Defence Minister and of Prime Minister has been drawn to Islamabad's reservations on the demand seeking a "firm, full and final" assurance from Pakistan that it would not re-capture the areas after Indian troops withdrew from there.
EARLY TIMES has gathered information from 'insiders', saying that commander of the Indian Army formation responsible for guarding the Siachen area has made it clear that Pakistan has has "absolutely no claims over Siachen". "We have conveyed our views to the government on demilitarisation. We are sure this will be kept in mind while addressing the isue", he said.
The Indian Army's standpoint: Demilitarisation can take place only after the actual ground position line (AGPL) betwen Indian and Pakistan troops has been delineated and India gests guarantees that Pakistan will respect these. That is the sticky point. The AGPL relates to not only to the 76-km of the Siachen glacier for for anotgher 34 km to a place called point NJ59842, where it abruptly stops. From here, Indian maintains the line follows the Saltoro Ridge northwards, meaning the entire glacier falls within its territory.
It is not just the heights India commands. Siachen serves as a strategic wedge between Pakistani and Chinese troops deployed on their borders with India. Military analysts warn that any Indian pullback--without guarantees--would enable the two armiesx to link up and threaten the Leh region to the south and even the Kargil sector.
Given this scenario, and given tghe fact that Indian Army has made it amply c ledar it canot retake the heights if it pulls back without guarantees, not much progress can be expected at the talks between Islamabad and New Delhi. Taking the situation as it is, one thing is clear--that is, the Indian troops will have to stay put on the heights of the Siachen glacier for the time being.
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