Siachen Glacier

Coordinates: 35°11′55.00″N 77°12′5.00″E / 35.1986111°N 77.2013889°E / 35.1986111; 77.2013889
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Siachen Glacier
Satellite imagery of the Siachen Glacier
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier
Location of the Siachen Glacier within the greater Karakoram region
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier (Ladakh)
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier (India)
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier (Gilgit Baltistan)
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier (Pakistan)
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier (Southern Xinjiang)
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Map showing the location of Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier (China)
TypeMountain glacier
LocationKarakoram, Ladakh (controlled by India, claimed by Pakistan)
Coordinates35°11′55.00″N 77°12′5.00″E / 35.1986111°N 77.2013889°E / 35.1986111; 77.2013889
Area2,500 km2 (970 sq mi)[1]
Length76 km (47 mi) using the longest route as is done when determining river lengths or 70 km (43 mi) if measuring from Indira Col[2]
Map

The Siachen Glacier is a

Saltoro Ridge, lying west of the glacier,[11] with Pakistani posts located 1 km below more than 100 Indian posts on the ridge.[12][13]

The Siachen Glacier lies immediately south of the great

snowfall
is more than 1000 cm (35 ft) and temperatures can dip to −50 °C (−58 °F). Including all tributary glaciers, the Siachen Glacier system covers about 700 km2 (270 sq mi).

Etymology

UN map of the Line of Control in Kashmir, which ends at the point NJ980420
Historical map including Siachen Glacier (AMS, 1953)[a]
Historical map including Siachen Glacier (AMS, 1966)[b]

"Sia" in the

Balti language refers to the rose family plant widely dispersed in the region. "Chen" refers to any object found in abundance. Thus the name Siachen refers to a land with an abundance of roses. The naming of the glacier itself, or at least its currency, is attributed to Tom Longstaff
.

Dispute

Both India and Pakistan

Saltoro Ridge to the west of Siachen Glacier.[21][22] However, more soldiers have died from the harsh weather conditions in the region than from combat.[23] Pakistan lost 353 soldiers in various operations recorded between 2003 and 2010 near Siachen, including 140 Pakistanis killed in the 2012 Gayari Sector avalanche.[24][25] Between January 2012 and July 2015, 33 Indian soldiers died due to adverse weather.[26] In December 2015, Indian Union Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha that a total of 869 Army personnel have died on the Siachen glacier due to climatic conditions and environmental and other factors from the date that the Army launched Operation Meghdoot in 1984.[27] In February 2016, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar stated that India will not vacate Siachen, as there is a trust deficit with Pakistan and also said that 915 people have died in Siachen since Operation Meghdoot in 1984.[28] According to official records, only 220 Indian soldiers have been killed by enemy bullets since 1984 in Siachen area.[29] Both India and Pakistan continue to deploy thousands of troops in the vicinity of Siachen and attempts to demilitarize the region have been so far unsuccessful. Prior to 1984, neither country had any military forces in this area.[30][31][32]

Aside from the Indian and Pakistani military presence, the glacier region is unpopulated. The nearest civilian settlement is the village of

TIME magazine, India gained over 1,000 square miles (3,000 km2) in territory because of its 1980s military operations in Siachen.[43] India has categorically stated that India will not pull its army from Siachen until the 110-km long AGPL is first authenticated, delineated and then demarcated.[44][45]

Sia plant in Khaplu. Balti people grow this rose family in their houses as decoration, and its bark is used in payo cha (butter tea) instead of green tea leaves in some areas

The 1949 Karachi agreement only carefully delineated the line of separation to point NJ9842, after which, the agreement states, the line of separation would continue "thence north to the glaciers".[4][46][47][48][49] According to the Indian stance, the line of separation should continue roughly northwards along the Saltoro Range to the west of the Siachen glacier beyond NJ9842;[50] international boundary lines that follow mountain ranges often do so by following the watershed drainage divide[44] such as that of the Saltoro Range.[51] The 1972 Simla Agreement made no change to the 1949 Line of Control in this northernmost sector.

Drainage

Siachen glacier is a source to the Nubra River which later joins the Shyok River.

The glacier's melting waters are the main source of the Nubra River in the Indian region of Ladakh, which drains into the Shyok River. The Shyok in turn joins the 3000 kilometre-long Indus River which flows through Pakistan. Thus, the glacier is a major source of the Indus[52] and feeds the largest irrigation system in the world.[53]

Environmental issues

The glacier was uninhabited before 1984, and the presence of thousands of troops since then has introduced pollution and melting to the glacier. To support the troops, glacial ice has been cut and melted with chemicals.[citation needed]

Dumping of non-biodegradable waste in large quantities and the use of arms and ammunition have considerably affected the ecosystem of the region.[54]

Glacial retreat

Preliminary findings of a survey by Pakistan Meteorological Department in 2007 revealed that the Siachen glacier has been retreating for the past 30 years and is melting at an alarming rate.[55] The study of satellite images of the glacier showed that the glacier is retreating at a rate of about 110 metres a year and that the glacier size has decreased by almost 35 percent.[52][56] In an eleven-year period, the glacier had receded nearly 800 metres,[57] and in seventeen years about 1700 metres. It is predicted that the glaciers of the Siachen region will be reduced to about one-fifth of their 2011 size by 2035.[58] In the twenty-nine-year period 1929–1958, well before the military occupation, the glacial retreat was recorded to be about 914 metres.[59] One of the reasons theorized for the recent glacial retreat is chemical blasting, to construct camps and posts.[60] In 2001 India laid oil pipelines (about 250 kilometres long) inside the glacier to supply kerosene and aviation fuel to the outposts from base camps.[60][61] As of 2007, the temperature rise at Siachen was estimated at 0.2-degree Celsius annually, causing melting, avalanches, and crevasses in the glacier.[62]

Waste dumping

The waste produced by the troops stationed there is dumped in the crevasses of the glacier. Mountaineers who visited the area while on climbing expeditions witnessed large amount of garbage, empty ammunition shells, parachutes etc. dumped on the glacier, that neither decomposes nor can be burned because of the extreme climatic conditions.[63] About 1,000 kilograms (1.1 short tons) of waste is produced and dumped in glacial crevasses daily by Indian forces.[55] The Indian army is said to have planned a "Green Siachen, Clean Siachen" campaign to airlift the garbage from the glacier, and to use biodigestors for biodegradable waste in the absence of oxygen and freezing temperatures.[64] Almost forty percent (40%) of the waste left at the glacier is plastic and metal, including toxins such as cobalt, cadmium and chromium that eventually affect the water of the Shyok River (which ultimately enters the Indus River near Skardu). The Indus is used for drinking and irrigation.[65][66] Research is being done by scientists of The Energy and Resources Institute, to find ways to successfully dispose of the garbage generated at the glacier using scientific means.[67] Some scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation who went on an expedition to Antarctica are also working to produce a bacterium that can thrive in extreme weather conditions and can be helpful in decomposing the biodegradable waste naturally.[68]

Fauna and flora

The flora and fauna of the Siachen region are also affected by the huge military presence.[65] The region is home to rare species including snow leopard, brown bear and ibex that are at risk because of the military presence.[67][69]

Border conflict

The glacier's region is the highest battleground on Earth,[70] where Pakistan and India have fought intermittently since April 1984.[71] Both countries maintain a permanent military presence in the region at a height of over 6,000 m (20,000 ft).

Both India and Pakistan have wished to disengage from the costly military outposts. However, after the Pakistani incursions during the Kargil War in 1999, India abandoned plans to withdraw from Siachen without official recognition of the current line of control by Pakistan, wary of further Pakistani incursions if they vacate the Siachen Glacier posts without such recognition.

Prime Minister

Abdul Kalam became the first head of state
to visit the area.

Since September 2007, India has opened up limited mountaineering and trekking expeditions to the area. The first group included cadets from Chail Military School, National Defence Academy, National Cadet Corps, Indian Military Academy, Rashtriya Indian Military College and family members of armed forces officers. The expeditions are also meant to show to the international audience that Indian troops hold "almost all dominating heights" on the key Saltoro Ridge and to show that Pakistani troops are nowhere near the Siachen Glacier.[73] Ignoring protests from Pakistan, India maintains that it does not need anyone's approval to send trekkers to Siachen, in what it says is essentially its own territory.[74] In addition, the Indian Army's Army Mountaineering Institute (AMI) functions out of the region.

Peace Park proposal

Indian Army Jawans performing yoga, on the occasion of the 3rd International Day of Yoga – 2017, at Siachen on June 21, 2017

The idea of declaring the Siachen region a "Peace Park" was presented by environmentalists and peace activists in part to preserve the ecosystem of the region badly affected by the military presence.

World Heritage List as a part of the Karakoram range, but this was deferred by the World Heritage Committee.[78] The areas to the east and west of the Siachen region have already been declared national parks: the Karakoram Wildlife Sanctuary in India and the Central Karakoram National Park in Pakistan.[79]

Sandia National Laboratories organised conferences where military experts and environmentalists from both India and Pakistan and also from other countries were invited to present joint papers. Kent L. Biringer, a researcher at Cooperative Monitoring Center of Sandia Labs suggested setting up Siachen Science Center, a high-altitude research centre where scientists and researchers from both the countries can carry out research activities[76] related to glaciology, geology, atmospheric sciences and other related fields.[80][81]

In popular culture

The Siachen glacier was mentioned in the 2018 Hollywood movie Mission: Impossible – Fallout starring Tom Cruise and Henry Cavill. In the movie's climax, rogue agent Walker (Cavill) plants nuclear bombs at the base of Siachen glacier. The scene however was actually filmed in Preikestolen, Norway because the Indian government denied the movie makers permission to film in Kashmir.[82]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ From map: "THE DELINEATION OF INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES ON THIS MAP MUST NOT BE CONSIDERED AUTHORITATIVE"
  2. ^ From map: "THE DELINEATION OF INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES MUST NOT BE CONSIDERED AUTHORITATIVE"

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Further reading

External links