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| 'Inspired' reports in circulation in Pakistan | | India won't withdraw troops from Siachen | |
B L KAK
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 20:It is official: Government of India has no plans, at present, to order withdrawal of its troops from the strategic Siachen glacier in Ladakh in eastern Kashmir.
Even as India has re-emphasized the objective of achieving cooperative and friendly relations with Pakistan, New Delhi's decision is against effecting any change in the present size and structure of the troops deployed on the 18,000-foot-high Siachen glacier area. The move seems to have been necessitated by two developments, one in India and the other in Pakistan.
The development in India was the product of the animated discussions on the question: Will New Delhi allow reduction or withdrawal of troops deployed to defencd the Siachen glacier against Pakistan's unabated attempts to grab it? And the development in Pakistan was the outcome of the 'inspired' reports in a section of the media in that country talking about the use of "secret diplomatic channels" by New Delhi and Islamabad to reach an accord on troops withdrawal from the Siachen glacier.
New Delhi has left none in doubt about India's standpoint on the presence of Indian troops in the Siachen glacier. The Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, has placed himself on record asserting: "There is no move to withdraw troops from the Siachen glacier".
Within the composite dialogue process, India and Pakistan held talks on the future of Siachen glacier some weeks ago. During the talks at the level of Defence Secretaries in New Delhi, modalities for disengagement and re-deployhment of troops were discused. The two sides agreed to continue discussions.
Will India's security interests get affected by any withdrawal of troops from the Siachen glacier? That New Delhi continued to be determined to defend the country's territorial integrity has been borne out by the Defence Minister's pronouncement: No compromise will be made on security-related matters and plans are in place to cater for all possible operational contingencies.
On the reported "secret" understanding between New Delhi and Islamabad on the future of troops of the two countries, the government of India's stand is: "No agreement has been reached so far betwen Indian and Pakistani authorities for reducing the Army in Siachen".
India wants Pakistan to accept the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL). But Pakistan has let it be known that the basis of the solution of the Siachen problem was the round of talks held in 1989 when the two sides had reached close to withdrawing troops.
New Delhi cannot be faulted if it insists on a guarante that Pakistan will not re-occupy the area vacated. This kind of guarantee is required, as the Kargil experience will not be easily ignored by the average official of the Indian Armed Forces. And if the Kargil experience were allowed to be the subject for discussion, it would be hard for New Delhi to accept any guarantee from Pakistan.
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