Mohan Guruswamy
June 13, 2005

The Prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh for a moment came tantalizingly close to committing himself to a settlement of the Siachen confrontation when he expressed a desire to turn the area into mountains of peace. Having said that he seemed to have backed off more than he advanced by uncompromisingly stating that India cannot agree to any alteration of the border. Since the spring of 1984 the Siachen glacier has been the bone of contention between India and Pakistan. Till Pakistani troops appeared in the area in 1983, it was a pristine no mans land whose sole importance was that its snowmelt fed the Nubra River. Now the Siachen glacier has acquired another dimension, which fuels passions in both countries. India has paid a high price to secure the Saltoro ridge and Pakistan still cannot stomach that the Indian Army had once again whipped it. Thus, sixteen years after the Indian flag was first hoisted both countries still battle it out in the Siachen.

Siachen is not without strategic significance for India. About halfway up the Nubra valley the old caravan route turns northwards to the Saser-la pass. The pass is the only crossing on the Saser Mustagh range that juts out from the Karakorums to the area the Indian Army calls Sub-Sector North (SSN) consisting of Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) and the Depsang plains. The only other route to SSN is the longer winter route along the Shyok valley. Because of this lack of easy access, our posts in SSN are difficult to defend. Many military experts do not believe that SSN can be held for very long against a Chinese thrust. Therefore withdrawal from the entire Siachen area would mean that not only are we providing an easy access into the Nubra valley to the Pakistanis but also to the Chinese. The Pakistanis also have built many roads that take them quite close to the Saltoro ridge. Once the heights are in their possession coming down the ridgeline onto the glacier itself does not need much effort. Similarly, if the Chinese take SSN, holding the Saser-la becomes vital. An Indian military withdrawal from the Siachen would mean that only Khardung-la stands between the invader and Leh. This cannot be accepted.

Much has been written about the costs incurred by India and Pakistan over Siachen. While the economic costs are huge, the human costs too have been very high. Both sides together have lost around a couple of thousand men. There are other costs too. A unit having once served its tenure on the Saltoro ridge cannot go back to that deployment for nearly eight years. This is the toll extracted by such a duty. While we may think that such costs are affordable, we must think of a more serious consequence that we can ill afford. That is to the fragile environment of the glacier due to the large number of troops in the Siachen and contiguous areas. India alone has a brigade deployed to support the troops on the glacier. Both countries have atleast one battling battalion each on the perennially snow-clad heights. This means approximately twelve hundred men in all, on just the ecologically sensitive glacier. The consequences of so many men permanently stationed on this very fragile ecosystem can be imagined.

The sub-zero temperatures that prevail throughout the year do not allow for any bio-degradation and there are no worms to thrive on biological wastes either. Just lots of Indians and Pakistanis! Consequently all waste material is stored in metal drums and dropped into crevasses. Solid human wastes alone would amount to over a thousand kilograms each day. Assuming a metal drum holds a hundred kilos, it would mean that both sides together dump atleast ten solidly packed drums of excrement each day into the crevasses. This is 3500-4000 drums each year. We have together been there for more than a decade and a half. We are talking about 55-60000 drums of frozen excrement already there, packed and preserved in ice, waiting to float down the Nubra someday.

Just to give the reader some idea of the space this involves - imagine drums lined up ten to twelve deep all along 4.5-kilometer route down the Rajpath from India Gate to Vijay Chowk. This does not take into account all the tetrapacks, empty cans, ammunition casings, packaging and other garbage that is similarly disposed off. Quite clearly making a mess of things acquires a new meaning in the Siachen! This writer has for long been a determined opponent of any withdrawal of our forces from the Siachen. But what one witnesses happening there compels rethinking. An American commander in Vietnam once said something about having to destroy a town to save it! Are we doing the same to the Siachen glacier?

Till not long ago the Siachen glacier used to be 82 kilometers long. The brutal war being fought since 1985 has directly contributed to it receding by several kilometers. We cannot allow this for very long without irreversible and serious consequences to the larger Eco-system. But a simple withdrawal by both sides is not a feasible solution. Any solution must take into account the operational requirements of India, which faces two armed and ready claimants to its territory.

But with a little sagacity and imagination we can fashion a solution to halt the ecological devastation in its tracks. To do this we simply need to drastically reduce the number of men deployed in the area. Suppose India and Pakistan can summon the good-sense and goodwill to mutually withdraw from the Saltoro and the ridgelines opposite it. Trust but verify is a commonly used Arms Control dictum. Since we cannot trust our Gods also not to pass up a chance to slip a knife into the other, India and Pakistan need a foolproof system to prevent easy and unobserved ingress by either side. The first step towards this is for both countries to destroy the many access roads. Ecologists world over will applaud this, and both countries are in need of some applause for good sense. Next would be to provide for joint surveillance to allay each other's worst fears about the other. India and Pakistan can do this without the Americans having to broker it and giving them room to play their own games.

A complete withdrawal from the valley will not assure Indian security concerns in the Saser Mustagh range and SSN lying ahead of it. India's security concerns vis-a-vis China will require it to move men and material along the old caravan route over the Saser-la pass. To facilitate this it will need a few permanent posts along this route and possibly over the Glacier. But this will not require it to occupy the Saltoro ridgeline, thereby allowing Pakistan to withdraw from the positions facing them. Now we need a mechanism to reassure each other.

This can be evolved bilaterally. One of the solutions can be periodic joint aerial surveillance of the area. For instance on a given days Indian and Pakistani aircraft can fly alongside and conduct photo-reconnaissance. Or both countries can be allowed to fly unarmed aircraft on a certain corridor quite freely to check on the de-militarized status of the ridges and to study the military situation on collateral areas. Another possibility would be to have flights on the same aircraft so that what is seen can be discussed and sorted out immediately. The modalities for these such as the airfields and helipads to be used, the two sides can easily work out meeting places for clarification and discussion, and evaluation of aerial photography.

The next step should be to make the glaciers a conservation area with a joint authority to sanction and regulate trekking and mountaineering expeditions. Then we are still left with the job of cleaning up. The costs of hauling out the garbage of the years will be quite enormous. Any sensible person will agree that it is better to spend money on cleaning up rather than on messing up the place. If we don't agree on this, it will be poetic justice if the frozen excrement finds its way into warmer waters, and then, both, Indians and Pakistanis alike will have to literally wallow in their own dung! In the meantime the shit keeps piling up.