news details |
|
|
| Pakistan has no claims over Siachen | | Indian Army in no hury to pull back: Brig. Prakash | |
NEW DELHI, NOV. 11
Amid the intensifed talk of 'serious' talks being held on the future of Siachen glacier, the cat is out of the bag: Indian Army has no plans, in the given situation, to pull back from its commanding heights on the 18,000-foot-high glacier. In fact, the Army wants Pakistan to accept ground realites.
Brigadier Om Prakah, commander of the Indian Army formation responsible for guarding the Siachen area has made it clear: "Pakistan has absolutely no claims over Siachen. Our troops are stationed at least 20-30 km west of the glacier. The Pakistanis cannot even get a look in, let alone lay claim to the glacier". He was talking to journalists flown to Siachen from New Delhi for a briefing on the situation on the glacier, where temperatures plummet to -30 degrees Celsius.
Om Prakash's statement assumes significance in view of the Nov 13-15 Foreign Secretary level talks between the two countries in New Delhi where Siachen will be one of the key subjects. The government of India has spoken broadly about demilitarising the glacier, where Indian and Pakistani troops have been involved in a bitter conflict since 1984 but where a truce has been holding since 2003.
Recently, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Pakistan's Foreign Minister, set the cat among the pigeons by stating that the Siachen row was close to resolution, something the government of India immediately rubbished. Now Briogadier Om Prakash says: "We have conveyed our views to the government on demilitarisation. We are sure this will be kept in mind while addressing the issue". For obvious reasons he did not say what these 'views' are, indicating he did not want to get into a diplomatic duel.
According to some other Indian military oficers and specialists, demilitarisation can take place only after the actual ground position line (AGPL) between Indian and Pakistani troops has been delineated and India gets guarantees that Pakistan will respect these. That is the sticky point. Pakistan says Indian troops must withdraw to the positions they held in 1972, at the time of the signing of the Simla Agreement in the wake of the 1971 war between the two countries.
The AGPL relates not only to the 76-km of the Siachen glacier but for another 34 km to a place called point NJ59842, where it abruptly stops. From here, India maintains the line follows the Saltoro Ridge northwards, meaning the entire glacier falls within its territory. Pakistan, however, has been citing a US map published in the mid-1970s showing the AGPL veering northeast up and down a series of mountain ridges to the Karakoram Pass and says the glacier runs within its territory.
Now Brigadier Om Prakash was quoted as saying: "This is ridiculous. Boundariesd run along ridges, not up and down mountains". 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 armies to link up and threaten the Leh region to the south and even the Kargil sector.
Given this scenario, and given the fact that the Indian Army has made it amply clear it cannot retake the heights if it pulls back without guarantees, not much progress can be expected at the Foreign Secretaries' talks. The Siachen standoff is one of eight issues covered under the composite dialogue process India and Pakistan have initiated to resolve bilateral issues, including Kashmir. The two sides had held six rounds of unsuccessful talks on Siachen before the issue was included in the composite dialogue process in 1998. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
