Demilitarization of Siachen is unworkable, due to Muzaffarabad-Yarkand road

|HT|

On Jan 15, the Army Day, Chief of Army Staff Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane replying to a question on his views on the demilitarization of Siachen Glacier said that the Indian Army was not averse to it but the precondition for that was that Pakistan accepted the 110 km actual ground position line north of NJ 9842. The Army chief was responding to questions which were submitted in advance. On Jan 15, the Army Day, Chief of Army Staff Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane replying to a question on his views on the demilitarization of Siachen Glacier said that the Indian Army was not averse to it but the precondition for that was that Pakistan accepted the 110 km actual ground position line north of NJ 9842. The Army chief was responding to questions which were submitted in advance. Gen Naravane said, “We are not averse to the demilitarization of the glacier but the pre-condition for that is to accept the AGPL. Pakistan has to accept what are their positions and what are ours, and both of us have to sign on the dotted line before any kind of disengagement takes place. What is happening in eastern Ladakh is quite similar…first disengagement, then de-induction and de-escalation, which is another way of saying demilitarization.

While Gen Naravane spelt out the Indian Army’s position on the issue, the matter has become far more complicated for national security planners with Pakistan and China proposing a road connecting Yarkand in Sinkiang to Muzaffarabad in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir through Shaksgam Valley, a 5193-square-kilometres territory that Pakistan illegally ceded to China in 1963. The Shaksgam Valley lies in the trans-Karakoram range watershed. Area maps clearly show that Rimo Glacier, Teram Shehr Glacier and the Siachen Glacier are located within the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The adjoining areas of these glaciers are PLA dominated territories like Shaksgam Valley and Yarkand Valley in the north and PoK in the west in addition to the warlike deployments by the PLA in Aksai Chin opposite Daulet Beg Oldi sector in the east. The PLA has a history of aggressive transgressions into what the Army calls sub-sector north and it is adamant in blocking the Indian Army patrols in Depsang Bulge south of DBO with massive brigade-level deployments at Tein Wein Dein (TWD) across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) facing DBO Indian post.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)