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| Strengthening war machine at Siachen vital for national security | | Pak rubs salt on Indian wound | | Early times Report
JAMMU, Feb 13: Insensitive Pakistan has yet again rubbed salt on the wounds on the nation. At a time when the entire nation is in a state of shock following the martyrdom of Siachen braveheart Lance Naik Hanamanthappa on February 11, Pakistan asked India to demilitarize the strategic Siachen glacial region so that it could re-occupy it and endanger India's national security by playing nefarious games in Ladakh and Kashmir Valley.
Described as the "miracle man", Lance Naik Hanamanthappa had managed to stay alive for six days buried under the snow after an avalanche struck their post on February 3. Nine other brave soldiers also sacrificed their precious lives while serving the national cause and defending the Siachen glacial region. All these were swept away by an ice wall on February 3 while guarding the Sonam post located some 20,500 feet high in the Himalayas.
While the entire nation was in a state of mourning and paying floral tributes to the Siachen martyrs and saluting them for their supreme sacrifice, Pakistan instead of exhibiting any sensitivity raked up the Siachen issue and virtually asked New Delhi to withdraw its troops from the region.
"We strongly feel that time has come to ensure more lives are not lost under harsh conditions in Siachen," said Pakistan's High Commissioner Abdul Basit. Pakistan has been suggesting since years that India should demilitarize Siachen where it holds strategic heights since 1984, when the Indian Army launched "Operation Meghdoot" to clear the 74-km Siachen glacial region of all Pakistani intruders, whose objective was to occupy it.
Not only Pakistan, its agents in India also said the same thing. "Does the glacier provide any offensive military value? The reality is that the Siachen glacier and Saltoro ridgeline cannot be used by India to stage a military mission either against Pakistan or the Shaksgam valley currently under Chinese occupation. When human survival is itself hardly sustainable in Siachen, how can it aid in offensive military missions? So while it sounds impressive to argue that Siachen provides us the northernmost point of defence against China and Pakistan, in reality it is just fanciful thinking," they said the day Hanamanthappa passed away at the Army Hospital in Delhi.
"The other 'strategic argument' is that once India vacates the area, the Pakistan Army could occupy the region. This again need not be a huge concern for a number of reasons. For one, once the area is demarcated, authenticated and mutually demilitarized, it would not be logistically or legally easy for Pakistan to occupy the place; two, India should include in the agreement that any violation of the agreement will be considered a casus belli; three, there are enough sophisticated monitoring and sensing mechanisms as well as commercial satellite imagery available today to prevent a surprise Pakistani invasion; finally, Pakistan tried (and India did) to occupy Siachen before 1984 because there was no clarity about the ownership of the region, but a mutual agreement to demilitarize would undo that ambiguity," they further said. In fact, they spoke the Pakistani language.
Northern Command chief Lt Gen DS Hooda did the right thing by dismissing the Pakistani sinister demand. He termed the demand as "unwarranted". "But for anybody to link the Siachen tragedy to withdrawal is absolutely unwarranted and incorrect," he was quoted as saying on Friday. He further said: "India's stand was very clear on Siachen. If withdrawal has to take place then actual positions on the ground that has our posts should be authenticated first and should be agreeable to both sides. Since this first step was not agreeable to Pakistan, an agreement with Islamabad has not taken place".
Siachen is of great strategic importance for India. Pakistan knows it. Pakistan knows that once India demilitarizes this region, it will not be very difficult for Islamabad to de-link Ladakh from rest of the country and finally fulfill its most cherished dream of annexing Jammu and Kashmir. It is not for nothing that hundreds of our brave soldiers have sacrificed their lives in the region while defending it braving all odds, especially the vagaries of nature. |
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