Icy killing fields of Siachen, ‘world’s highest battleground’

An army helicopter flies over the Siachen Glacier on Pakistan-India border.

ISLAMABAD: The disputed Siachen glacier, where an avalanche hit early Saturday, is billed as the world’s highest combat zone, but atrocious weather conditions have claimed more lives than actual fighting.
The 77-kilometre-long glacier traverses the Line of Control, the de facto border separating Indian- and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, at a height of over 6,300 metres.
Combat between the nuclear-armed foes has claimed few lives but frostbite, avalanches and driving blizzards, which can sweep men into crevasses, are deadly for the thousands of soldiers deployed there.
Winter temperatures plummet to minus 70 degrees Celsius with blizzards gusting at speeds of 160 kilometres per hour.
India in 1984 occupied the key areas on the glacier, including the heights, and Pakistan immediately responded by deploying its own forces. They fought a fierce battle in 1987, raising fears of all-out conflict.
New Delhi says it cannot withdraw its troops from the glacier until Islamabad recognises its troop positions, fearing Pakistan will move its soldiers forward in the event of an Indian pull-out.
Experts have said there are some Indian 5,000 troops on the glacier while Pakistan has less than half that number, but there are no recent estimates.
Islamabad says the presence of Indians on the glacier threatens a strategic Sino-Pakistani highway located 180 kilometres away.
Early on Saturday, an avalanche smashed into a remote Pakistan army camp on the glacier, burying alive at least 100 soldiers. Troops were frantically trying to find signs of life in the deep snow.
Most of the time on Siachen, the bad weather prevents any troop movement and despite the heavy deployment, clashes are generally low-level skirmishes involving a few dozen troops.
Since both sides deployed troops on Siachen, casualties from sporadic clashes have not exceeded 150 on either side.
Maintaining a military presence on remote Siachen exerts a heavy financial toll.
India reportedly spends more than 40 million rupees daily on its Siachen deployment — a figure that does not include additional wages and bonuses.
All Indian soldiers who complete a tour of duty on the glacier are awarded the “Siachen Pin” as a mark of fortitude.
The Kashmir region — of which Siachen is a part — is divided between Pakistan and India and is claimed by both in full. It has triggered two of the three wars between the neighbours since 1947.
Siachen is close to four of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 metres — K2, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum I and Gasherbrum II — all of which are on the Pakistani side of the frontline

Avalanche traps over 100 Pakistani soldiers

Singh accepts Zardari’s invitation to visit Pakistan

President Asif Ali Zardari, center, and his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, right, wave as India's Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, second right, looks on during their welcoming in New Delhi, India, Sunday, April 8, 2012.


NEW DELHI: President Asif Ali Zardari has returned home after concluding his one-day trip to India on Sunday, describing it as “very fruitful” in improving ties between the two countries.
During a visit billed as private but of great diplomatic significance, Zardari lunched with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and invited him to visit Pakistan.
The meeting has received a cautious welcome from analysts who see it as another sign of improving relations between the neighbours.
“We have had some very fruitful bilateral talks together,” Zardari said at a joint news conference during the first presidential trip to India since Pervez Musharraf visited seven years ago.
“We would like to have better relations with India. We spoke on all topics that we could,” added Zardari, who is accompanied by a large 40 member delegation including Interior Minister Rehman Malik and 25 members of his family, including his son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and daughters Asifa and Bakhtawar.
On his first visit to India, Bilawal stood behind the leaders in a sign of his growing role in politics.
The lunch —with kebabs and curries from all over India, including the disputed region of Kashmir —was preceded by a 40-minute private conversation between the two leaders.
“I am very satisfied with the outcome of this visit,” Singh told reporters.
“President Zardari has invited me to visit Pakistan and I’d be very happy to visit Pakistan at a mutually convenient date.”
He stressed that relations between the countries “should become normal. That is our common desire.”
Analysts expected little progress on Sunday on sensitive topics such as Kashmir or the presence of anti-India militant groups in Pakistan.
Both were discussed, along with “the activities of Hafiz Saeed” and ways to increase trade between the countries, India’s Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters.
“Both felt that we need to move forward step by step,” Mathai said of the talks between the leaders, which will be followed by meetings between home and trade ministers in the coming months.
He said Singh offered Zardari India’s help in finding Pakistani soldiers and civilians engulfed by an avalanche on Saturday near the 6,000-metre-high (18,500-foot) Siachen glacier in Kashmir – known as the world’s highest battlefield.
Zardari thanked Singh but did not immediately respond to the offer to help rescue teams, backed by helicopters and sniffer dogs combing an area one-km (half a mile) wide with snow up to 80 feet (25 metres) deep.
SHRINE VISIT
The president later visited a Sufi shrine in the town of Ajmer, 350 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of New Delhi, where he viewed the renowned complex of mosques built around a tomb commemorating a saint who died in 1236.
Both President Zardari and his son laid ‘chadars’ at the shrine and offered prayers.
He also donated $1 million for the holy shrine, Indian media reported.
“The soulful happiness that I have experienced at this holy place is beyond explanation. I pray to Allah to make life easy for the entire humanity,” Zardari wrote in a diary at the shrine.