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| Demilitarisation of Siachen would help Pak play nefarious games in Kashmir | | National Security | | RUSTAM | 5/19/2012 11:59:44 AM |
| JAMMU, May 18: The Indian Army is opposing the move of the Congress-led UPA Government to further placate the aggressor Pakistan by conceding its demand seeking demilitarisation of the strategic Siachen Glacier region, which is legitimately Indian. The Indian Army consolidated its hold over the glacier in 1984 after evicting the Pakistani intruders and the present Armu chief General V K Singh has made it loud and clear that he would not endorse the controversial move.
Why is the Indian Army opposing demilitarisation of the Siachen Glacier region? According to one report in one of the leading journals of the country, the Army is opposing the move for at least four reasons. One: "Indian Army is deployed on commanding heights, crucial for mountain warfare". Two: "From its position on the Saltoro Ridge, Indian Army can monitor the growing Pakistan-China movement. Pakistan has reportedly handed over large parts of Gilgit-Baltistan to China for development. There are reports of thousands of Chinese troops and engineers stationed in these areas". Three: "Indian Army is deployed beyond the Siachen Glacier and it is important for the forward defence of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh". Four: "Pakistan wants to focus on Afghanistan to regain strategic depth in view of the planned US withdrawal in 2014. Pakistan cannot afford to have troops on two fronts. Post 2014, it will once again focus on its eastern flank with its resurgent fourth arm, the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Taliban and al Qaeda".
General V K Singh, who is to demit his office on May 31 after serving the nation for decades and making splendid contribution, is not the only one who is vehemently opposed to the idea of demilitarising the Siachen Glacier region. Several members of the strategic community outside the government also bitterly oppose the move of the Congress-dominated UPA Government to concede the Pakistani demand and demilitarise the Siachen Glacier. Some of them include General Ved Prakash Malik; former Chief of Army Staff, Ajit Doval, former Director, Intelligence Bureau; Kanwal Sibal, former Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to United States; Lt General Ravi Sawhney, former Director General of Military Intelligence; and Major General G D Bakshi, former division commander and defence expert. The "strategic community" has termed as "strategic hara-kiri" Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's "Siachen gamble".
V P Malik, for instance, has said: "What are the guarantees that Pakistan will not occupy the heights vacated by India. Months after the Lahore peace process in February 1999, the Pakistan Army violated the Line of Control and occupied several Indian posts in Kargil. And the Kargil intrusion was the violation of the line of Control signed and verified by both the armies and governments during the Shimla Agreement of 1972". Kanwal Sibal has said: "At Saltoro we dominate the heights overlooking the Northern Areas and land illegally ceded by Pakistan to China". Doval has said: "For India, the core concern is Pakistan-sponsored terror. Has Pakistan closed the terror factories? Has it arrested Jammat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed or Dawood Ibrahim? Has Pakistan closed down the mints that print fake Indian currency notes? Prime Minister cannot compel the Army to withdraw based on empty, meaningless words not backed by action". Bakshi has said: "The Army is well deployed in the glacier. Its casualties are low and troops as comfortable as the situation permits. Pakistan, on the other hand, is in dire straits. Its troops resent being in those inhospitable conditions and this deployment is hurting Pakistan. Should it deem fit, it can withdraw unilaterally. India will not move forward".
As for Sawhney, he has asked as to why "Pakistan is desperate for India to withdraw? Answering his own question, he has said: "Because the Indian Army is strategically deployed to overlook and - should the need arise - interject the Pakistan-China axis in the Northern Areas. Holding Saltoro Ridge is also important to block routes of ingress in the Ladakh and Kargil sectors. It forms a part of forward defence. The cost of withdrawal and redeployment would be higher than staying where we are".
Former Deputy National Security Advisor, Satish Chandra, has also opposed the move and said: "The strategic importance of the Saltoro Ridge should not be underestimated. Failure to do so will prevent us from dominating the Northern Areas and the Shaksgam Valley. Should Pakistan occupy the Saltoro Ridge, it would lead to Sino-Pak link-ups northwards the Shaksgam Valley and eastwards towards the Karakoram Pass as well as put in grave jeopardy our defence of Shyok and Nubra valleys. In these circumstances, reports that our Army chief-designate (General Bikram Singh) is expected to endorse Manmohan Singh's inclination to concede to Pakistan demands are worrisome".
One can go on referring to many more such views as expressed by various other defence analysts, including Lt General (Retd) S K Sinha, former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. The fact of the matter is that there is consensus among the objective defence analysts that the Indian Army must not withdraw from the Siachen Glacier region. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would do well to appreciate the concerns expressed by these defence analysts and reject -out-of-hand the Pakistani suggestions in this regard. Defence of the country is paramount and it is incumbent that the Government of India further strengthens its war machine, particularly in the vulnerable areas. So far our Prime Minister has only disappointed the nation, as his policy towards Pakistan is based on unilateralism. |
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