Could it actually be true? Maj Gen Chibber, Col Kumar and Brig Mehta
had poured over the maps of the northern border of India- Pakistan LOC.
They had pulled out maps dating to Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s reign.
The bewilderment was palpable.
That’s when it struck them - it was all a play on words!
What had just transpired was the discovery that for the past 15 years Pakistan had claimed ownership of the Siachen Glacier
and India did not know about it.
The capture of the Siachen Glacier by Indian forces is called Operation Meghdoot AND Operation Rajiv.
Since their independence,
India and Pakistan began their shared history with bloodshed.
Despite multiple attempts at peace,
the India-Pakistan border has been one of the most disputed borders in the world.
An attempt at peace was the Shimla Agreement.
Which had been called for right after the Indo-Pak War of 1971
in which East Pakistan seceeded from West Pakistan and formed Bangladesh.
When the heads of the two nations had met during the Shimla Agreement
India’s PM Indira Gandhi had an advantage over Pakistan’s Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
But Bhutto was in no position to either make demands or go back empty handed to a nation that was watching him.
So after a week of diplomatic talks going nowhere
both Gandhi and Bhutto had a private meeting and came to a decision.
But the tenets listed in the peace agreement were not observed for long
because 5 years later both Bhutto and Gandhi were taken over by different governments.
In 1977 Indira Gandhi lost the elections to Morarji Desai
and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was overthrown by General Zia ul Haq, establishing a military rule in Pakistan.
The first time anyone in India noticed what was happening in Siachen was in 1977 by Col. Kumar.
Col. Narendra “Bull” Kumar was the Commanding Officer of HAWS- High Altitude Warfare School.
A German contingent had come to him for permission to climb the Saltoro Range from the Indian side.
What surprised Col Kumar was the map the Germans were carrying.
The point beyond NJ 9842 till Karakoram Pass,
the entire area which included the Siachen was being claimed as Pakistan’s.
The colonel knew that this was something he had to bring to the notice of the DGMO.
He offered to buy the map from the Germans as proof.
It wasn’t just a play on the word “Karakoram”, it was a matter of an international border.
The original Radcliff Line drawn by the British
between India and Pakistan starts from the Rann of Kutch in Gujrat
through Rajasthan and Punjab till the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The LOC separates Pakistan Occupied Kashmir from India’s Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the Shimla Agreement this was to be taken as the international border till Point NJ 9842.
From where India went north to the Karakoram range, “And thence Northwards.”
In the middle of these lines lay the triangular area of the Siachen Glacier,
a barren, inhospitable, icy stretch of land of no economic value but immense geo-political value.
Because it’s the Siachen Glacier that separates Pakistan from China.
Siachen was definitely an area India couldn’t afford to lose.
Gen Chibber understood this.
He approved for Col. Kumar to go on a fact-finding mission
to Khardung La, Pullu, Khalsar and Sasoma, but undercover.
Col. Kumar ventured into the Bilafond La, this time with a team of 70.
He collects evidence of expeditions conducted by Pakistan previously.
He waited for a warning fire or some sign of occupation. There was none.
In his report to Gen Chibber
he recommended that the Saltoro range be manned in the summer months as a precaution,
, that there should be more Indian activity in the area
and that the glacier should be opened up for expeditions from the Indian side
so as to give India a loci standing and ownership.
Gen Chibber approved a second expedition in 1981,
but on the quiet.
Putting it on paper would mean going through bureaucratic rounds and raising an alarm on the border.
Between 1981 and 1983 there were multiple expeditions conducted
and India opened up their side of the glacier for foreign expeditions.
Neither side was really taking a step to occupy Siachin,
but both were watching the other with a hawk’s eye.
Till 1983, when by way of a catalyst 2 notes were received by India from its neighbor.
The message was clear - back off from their territory.
But according to the Shimla Agreement this was not Pakistani territory
India knew what it had to do - prepare for a war at the highest altitude in the world.
