South Asia: On removing military threat to Siachen Glacier

-DR. ABDUL RUFF COLACHAL 

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The speedy climate change taking place across the globe m not only because of global green gas emissions but also by terror wars perpetrated by US led NATO rogue states fighting Islam under garb of war terrorism.

The military operations and other activities by the forces now occupying Siachen Glacier lying between Pakistan and Jammu Kashmir, now under India occupation, in South Asia, have threatened to harm the  environmental hazards  lading to climate change.  

Militaries always want wars for enlarging the territories and they care a damn about the  terrible  fallout of  terror wars for the nations, people and environment. 

Rulers seeking to get political mileage out by showcasing their rhetoric power, often fall into the trap ofmilitary strategists and click the war button, killing including people and harming environment and destroying properties worth trillions of world top currencies.  

Military blood thirst can only be equated only with money hunger of politicians who willingly play into the military hands and allocate huge resources on non-productive and destructive wars and get a share of funds.

NATO wars on Islam in energy rich Mideast has caused devastating damages to the climate. So are the nuclear reactors pumping out poisonous gases into the atmosphere, besides the attacking the people of the region through radioactive stuff. 

Siachen Glacier lying between India and Pakistan as part of Jammu Kashmir is being badly militarized by Indian forces as part of illegally occupying JK.

Extended over stay of military forces has harmed the region badly. Environmentally sensitive zone of Siachen is fast going to become the biggest garbage dump that can turn this large source of drinking water into pollution-spreading tool in the region.

The Siachen Conflict, sometimes referred to as the Siachen War, is amilitary conflict between India and Pakistan over the disputed SiachenGlacier region in Kashmir. A cease-fire went into effect in 2003. The conflict began in 1984 with India's successful Operation Meghdoot during which it gained control of the Siachen Glacier (unoccupied and not demarcated area). India has established control over all of the 70 kilometres (43 mi) long Siachen Glacier and all of its tributary glaciers, as well as the three main passes of the Saltoro Ridge immediately west of the glacier—Sia La, Bilafond La, and Gyong La. Pakistan controls the glacial valleys immediately west of the Saltoro Ridge. India gained more than 1,000 square miles (3,000 km²) of territory because of its militaryoperations in Siachen.

The Siachen glacier is the highest battleground on earth, where India and Pakistan have fought intermittently since April 13, 1984. Both countries maintain permanent military presence in the region at a height of over 6,000 metres (20,000 ft). More than 2000 people have died in this inhospitable terrain, mostly due to weather extremes and the natural hazards of mountain warfare.

The conflict in Siachen stems from the incompletely demarcated territory on the regional map. The 1972 Simla Agreement did not clearly mention who controlled the glacier, merely stating that from the NJ9842 location the boundary would proceed "thence north to the glaciers." UN officials presumed there would be no dispute between India and Pakistan over such a cold and barren region.

The Indian army controls all of the 70 kilometres (43 mi) long SiachenGlacier and all of its tributary glaciers, as well as the three main passes of the Saltoro Ridge immediately west of the glacier—Sia La, Bilafond La, and Gyong La—thus holding onto the tactical advantage of high ground.

The Pakistanis control the glacial valley just five kilometers southwest of Gyong La. The Pakistanis have been unable get up to the crest of the Saltoro Ridge, while the Indians cannot come down and abandon their strategic high posts.

The line between where Indian and Pakistani troops are presently holding onto their respective posts is being increasingly referred to as the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL)

Since September 2007, India has welcomed mountaineering and trekking expeditions to the forbidding glacial heights. The expeditions have been meant to show the international audience that Indian troops hold "almost all dominating heights" on the important Saltoro Ridge west of SiachenGlacier, and to show that Pakistani troops are not within 15 miles (24 km) of the 43.5-mile (70 km) Siachen Glacier

Ms Benazir Bhutto, the first woman PM of Pakistan, visited the area west of Gyong La as the first premier from either side to get to the Siachenregion. On June 12, 2005, Indian PM Manmohan Singh visited the area, calling for a peaceful resolution of the problem. In 2007, the President of India, Abdul Kalam became the first head of state to visit the area.

After the Kargil War in 1999, India decided to maintain its militaryoutposts on the glacier, wary of further Pakistani incursions into Kashmir if they vacate from the Siachen Glacier posts without an official recognition from Pakistan of the current positions.

The heavy military presence in the Siachen area has so far resulted in loss of ice mass at the terminus, heavy deposits of carbon on glaciated ice and increased absorption of solar radiation that were believed to be main cause of unexpected avalanche in Gayari sector of Siachen area.

The official record stated that since their first meeting in January 1986, the military secretaries of the two countries have so far held a total of 12 rounds of negotiations on the issue of Siachen Glacier.

The satellite images taken with the help of Italy based organization showed 4.3 km ice line retreat and presence of glacier lakes that are enough evidence to prove that glacier is fast melting and shape of snout is constantly changing due to transboundary pollution effects in theSiachen area.

Following an avalanche on April 7 that killed 124 soldiers of the 6 Northern Light Infantry and 11 civilians, then Pakistan Army Chief, General Kayani also remarked that it was time to demilitarize theGlacier. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated that, on the Indian side alone, over 2000 lbs of human waste are dropped daily into crevasses. Clothing used in warfare is washed at hot sulfur springs near the Indian base camp, and toxic residue flows freely into the Nubra River.  It said Siachen lacks natural biodegrading agents, so metals and plastics simply merge with the glacier as permanent pollutants, leaching toxins like cobalt, cadmium, and chromium into the ice. This waste eventually reaches the Indus River, affecting drinking and irrigation water.

Amidst the disagreement between Pakistan and India, an interesting idea bereft of emotion and politics, purely based on science was mooted by the Institute of Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD) in Washington DC. IMTD has come up with the idea of setting up of a joint Siachen Science Centre (or Centres) based at the University of Srinagar and Muzaffarabad.

A study conducted by the State Council for Science, Technology and Environment of the Himachal Pradesh state of India, revealed that 67 per cent of the Himalayan glaciers have shown retreating trends. 

Pakistan and India would realize the intensity of the environmental threats due to increasing human and military activities in the Siachenglacier.  Both possible war threat and environmental disorder in theSiachen Glacier zone are the prime reasons for leaderships on both sides to seriously address the issue of threat to the glacier. Both the governments need to consider establishing ‘Science Park’ and non-militaryzone on the Siachen Glacier. Now this is high time to again explore such proposal seriously.

As Siachen zone is becoming a dangerous spot for the survival of living beings around, Pakistan sought both India and Pakistan to jointly demilitarize the zone. But India, always showcasing the Big Brother attitude to its neighbors,  rejected the peace offer and declared its decision to stay militarily there, destabilizing the natural and environmental conditions.  

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Sensing future problems, Pakistan has been pushing for demilitarization ofSiachen but India has maintained that this cannot take place without proper authentication by both sides of the present troop positions on theGlacier.

Advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has repeatedly asked India to withdraw troops from the Siachen Glacier claiming that they posed a "serious threat" to Pakistan's environment.  But, as usual, the Army rubbished Pakistan's demand for withdrawal of troops from the Siachen Glacier saying it would not move out from the strategically important icy heights. 

The India team military would not like to move out from the Glacier as it is of strategic importance to us and in the last several years, we have taken several steps towards maintaining the environmental equilibrium there.  The Army has not changed its views on the importance of the strategic heights which have been under Indian physical control since 1984 after the Army launched to Operation Meghdoot to occupy them. In the recent times, the Army has worked towards using new and renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy to meet its energy requirements in the glacier areas and DRDO has also taken up work in this direction.

As a matter of fact, the Himalayan glacier feeds the river system that sustains life and economic activity in both countries. Environmentalists have long been warning that glacial melting caused by human activity would bring catastrophic changes in this region's weather patterns. Initially spells of droughts and floods will have a profoundly disruptive impact on the area's agrarian economies, followed by an acute water scarcity. Needless to say, the Nature does not recognize territorial claims by one or another country. Degradation of the glacier's environment should be as worrisome for India as it is for Pakistan. 

The presence of Indian forces on Siachen Glacier is harmful to the environment. Pakistan is facing a water shortage and Indian forces are damaging the virgin snow of Siachen on daily basis‚ which is one of the largest sources of Pakistani waters. Items of daily use disposed off by thousands of Indian soldiers are threatening the very existence of theglacier.

Indian and Pakistani troops are face-to-face at Siachen for years in freezing temperature, since Indian troops occupied the major portion ofSiachen in 1984. Before this act of Indian aggression, the glacier was a demilitarized zone, scarcely visited by human beings. Pakistan had to move its troops to the glacier as a necessity to halt further advancement of Indian troops. Ever since Pakistan has pursued restoration of status quo ante. Demilitarization of Siachen would mitigate the water scarcity of both the countries.

It is worthwhile to note that despite both countries staking claims to theglacier, located in the occupied and disputed Jammu and Kashmir region, the Line of Control demarcation never covered Siachen. It was left alone, apparently, because of its uninhabitable conditions until India decided in April 1984 to surreptitiously send its troops to set up posts on some ofSiachen's advantageous heights. India asserts its  rights  to the Glaciers  on the strength of its illegal occupation of JK.

Learning about the Indian occupation a week later Pakistan asserted its own claims, taking control of other adjoining important points. They have since remained locked in a mindless standoff with more soldiers dying from weather and height-related causes than fighting the other side.

In an interview with Radio Pakistan recently, Pakistani PM's Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, expressed concern over a little discussed but vital aspect of Pak-India military standoff atop theSiachen glacier. Calling for troop pullout, he said that the presence of Indian troops -and by way of response Pakistan's- is a threat to Pakistan's environment, and one of its main sources of water.

Sartaj Aziz talked of thousands of Indian troops disposing of items that, he said, threaten melting of the glacier. Pakistani troops, of course, also contribute to degradation of Siachen's environment. For over nearly three decades, both sides have been firing ordnance at each other, and using helicopters for transportation of men and equipment as well as to launch surprise raids. Surely, they also light fires to cook and bathe or simply to stay warm. Such activities combined with greenhouse gas emissions by Indian and Chinese coal-fired power plants and industries threaten to melt the glacier faster than most estimates predict. 

It is of great urgency that the Glaciers are left alone to themselves. It is about time New Delhi recognizes the threat the Siachen standoff poses to the two countries, peoples and their livelihood. India may be relatively better placed to pay a huge price in terms of lost lives and financial burden required by military presence on Siachen, but it must also think of the longer-term cost of damaging the environment and resultant climatic upheavals. The concern it has been expressing about pullback to the pre-1984 positions can be addressed provided the problem is only of a trust deficit, as declared, and not a desire to consolidate control of the disputed glacial territory. The sticking point has been India's stance that in the event of its troops pullback, Pakistan will move up to occupy its present positions. That can be resolved through a satellite surveillance agreement. The glacier must be declared a demilitarized zone. 

Presence of Indian forces on Siachen is, indeed, a big issue and should be resolved as soon as possible. According to environmentalists‚ glacial retreat on Himalayas and Karakorum ranges has accelerated during the recent years because of human presence on the glaciers. 

There cannot be two opinions of the humanity that military threatto Siachen Glacier lying between India and Pakistan must be removed by demilitarizing the sandwiched zone. 

Militaries have no rights to destroy the very important climatic zone Siachen Glacier in order to showcase their terror prowess. 

Removal of military threat to Siachen Glacier generally would contribute to the good will of people on both sides and  peaceful situation in  South Asia