Friday 13 April 2012

India Will Not Leave Siachen

Thursday, April 12, 2012
The horrifying tragedy of Pakistani soldiers who got buried under an avalanche in Siachen is very much unlikely to affect India's decision to station a permanent military base there.
New Delhi is still considering to try and check if there is any room for flexibility on the matter. It costs millions of dollars to station troops in the worlds highest battlefield and New Delhi is not short of funds at all.

Last week an avalanche destroyed a Pakistani army camp in the Gayari sector highlighting the enormous difficulties faced by the two armies in sustaining thousands of troops.

Pakistan is clearly paying a heavy price to maintain their troops at that altitude with the loss of hundreds of lives and spending millions of dollars at a time when their economy is in the worst state since they gained independence
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It is to be noted that Pakistan has no presence in the Siachen glacier as it's troops are stationed on the other side of the Saltoro Ridge. India is not and should not withdraw it's troops from the ridge until Pakistan guarantees to authenticate the Actual Ground Position Line on the map as well as on the ground. Pakistan is not willing to give such a guarantee and so it is very hard for India to believe anything that Pakistan says about Siachen.Pakistan is in a much weaker position to soften it's stand on the Siachen issue and might even be willing to authenticate the position of the troops as they exist today. The Indian troops are holding much higher ground and dominating positions in the region since 1984.

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