The Siachen Glacier dispute: Imbroglio on the roof of the world

Contemporary South Asia

Volumn 8, Issue 2, 1999, Pages 187-209

  Khosa, Raspal S ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

GEOPOLITICS; GLACIER; INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT; TERRITORIAL DISPUTE;

INDIA; PAKISTAN;

EID: 0032704165     PISSN: 09584935     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09584939908719864     Document Type: Article

References (169)

1. 'Jammu and Kashmir' and 'Kashmir' are used interchangeably in this paper although the latter technically only refers to the Kashmir Valley.
2. Maj. Gen. Shiv K. Sharma (Retd), 'Siachen: a fresh perspective'. Defence Today, Vol 1, No 1, 1993, p 69.
3. Air Cdre Jasjit Singh (Retd), 'Siachen Glacier: facts and fiction'. Strategic Studies, Vol 12, No 7, 1987, p 667.
4. Robert G. Wirsing, Pakistan's Security Under Zia, 1977-1988: The Policy Imperatives of a Peripheral Asian State (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991), p 143.
5. Ibid, p 144.
6. Brig. Vijai K. Nair (Retd), 'Siachen', Indian Defence Review, January 1993, p 64.
7. Kashmir Times (Jammu), 5 March 1999.
8. Foreign Correspondent, Australian Broadcasting Corp, Sydney, 18 July 1998.
9. Edward Desmond, 'War on high ground'. Time (Australia), 17 July 1989, p 16.
10. The princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was a poly-ethnic pastiche created during the mid-19th century by its Dogra rulers through intrigue and conquest following the Anglo-Sikh Wars.
11. Maj. Gen. Afsir Karim (Retd), 'The USIP meet on Kashmir in Washington: January 1993'. Indian Defence Review, April 1993, p 17.
12. See Mahnaz Z. Isphahani, Roads and Rivals: The Politics of Access in the Borderlands of Asia (London: I.D. Tauris, 1989).
13. Desmond, op cit, note 9, p 16.
14. Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), p 355.
15. Cecil Victor, India: The Security Dilemma (New Delhi: Patriot, 1990), p 125.
16. The language of the northern area of Baltistan.
17. Maj. Shafiq Qamar, 'Siachen-Roof of the World', Defence Journal, Vol 18, Nos 9-10, 1992, p 23.
18. Nair, op cit, note 6, p 64.
19. Due to year round minus temperatures and the rarefied atmosphere, otherwise bio-degradable wastes do not break down on the glacier. This is not to mention the expended war-making materials that lie discarded in the area.
20. A.J. Singh, 'Hot spot turning glacier into wasteland', Bangkok Post, 29 September 1991.
21. P.M. Parischa, The Siachen Glacier: an orographie offensive by Pakistan', Strategic Analysis, Vol 9, No 9, 1985, p 855.
22. La means mountain pass in Tibetan.
23. Nair, op cit, note 6, p 64.
24. Lt Gen. M.L. Chibber (Retd), 'Siachen - the untold story (a personal account)', Indian Defence Review, July 1989, p 146.
25. A result of glacial nivation and abrasion.
26. Indian Defence Review Research Team, 'Glacier warfare: the Indian army experiences a new dimension in high altitude warfare', Indian Defence Review, July 1989, p 97.
27. W.P.S. Sidhu and Pramod Pushkarna, 'Siachen: the forgotten war', India Today, 23 May 1992, p 64.
28. Ibid.
29. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, pp 145-146.
30. The text of the 1949 CFL Agreement is reproduced in many places. See for example: Kasan K. Sarwar (ed). The Kashmir Question: Documents on the Foreign Relations of Pakistan (Karachi: Pakistan Institute of International Affairs, 1966), pp 226-229.
31. Robert G. Wirsing, 'The Siachen Glacier dispute: can diplomacy untangle it?', Indian Defence Review, July 1991, p 95.
32. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, p 156.
33. Jasjit Singh, op cit, note 3, p 700.
34. Chibber, op cit. note 24, p 48.
35. Maj. Gen. Tariq Mehmood (Retd), 'Siachen dispute and the status of the Northern Areas', Defence Journal, Vol 19, Nos 5-6 (1993), p 21.
36. Wirsing, op cil, note 4, p 182.
37. Ibid, p 146.
38. Ibid.
39. The post-partition state of Pakistan was a geographic anomaly whereby its two wings lay either side of India.
40. Wirsing, op cil, note 4, p 146.
41. These highly disparate entities were nominally independent of the British Raj.
42. Lt Gen. M.L. Chibber (Retd), 'India-Pakistan reconciliation: its impact on international security', Indian Defence Review, April 1992, p 62.
43. P.L. Bhola, Indo-Pakistan control march over the Siachen Glacier', Indian Journal of Asian Affairs, Vol I. No 1, 1988, p 33.
44. Ibid.
45. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, pp 151-152.
46. The legality of the Pakistani action regarding the Northern Areas was unsuccessfully challenged in court by the Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
47. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, p 148.
48. Chibber, op cit, note 24, p 47.
49. The Chinese had built the Xinjiang-Tibet highway through this region without the knowledge or consent of the Indian authorities.
50. Gary Klintworth, The Practice of Common Security: China's Borders with Russia and India', Working Paper no. 1993/1, (Department of International Relations, ANU, Canberra, 1993), p 9.
51. 'India, China to withdraw troops', Weekend Australian, 1-2 January 1994.
52. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, p 147.
53. Ibid.
54. Ibid.
55. Cited in Nair, op cit, note 6, p 65.
56. Ibid.
57. Bhola, op cil, note 43, p 35.
58. Sidhu and Pushkarna, op cit, note 27, p 61.
59. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, p 154.
60. Bhola, op cit, note 43, p 35.
61. Pariseha, op cit, note 21.
62. Bhola, op cil, note 43, p 35.
63. Chibber, op cit, note 24, p 148.
64. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, p 153.
65. Ibid, pp 156-157.
66. Bhola, op cit, note 43, p 32.
67. Chibber op cit, note 24, p 147.
68. Ibid, p 149.
69. As was GOC of Northern Command (India) during the initial phase of the conflict on Siachen, Lt Gen. M.L. Chibber was responsible for directing the Indian military initiative to seize the Saltoro Range passes.
70. Chibber op cil, note 24, p 150.
71. Desmond, op cit, note 9, p 16.
72. Sharma, op cit, note 2, p 68.
73. Chibber op cit, note 24, p 150.
74. The divine cloud messenger in the Sanskrit play by Kalidasa.
75. Chibber op cit, note 24, p 146. '
76. Ibid.,pp 150-151.
77. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, p 159.
78. 'Who wants the Glacier of the Wild Roses?', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol 22, No 2 1987, p 489.
79. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, p 159.
80. Composed of Special Service Group (SSG) commandos and Northern Light Infantry (NLI) troops specially trained and equipped to fight at extreme altitudes.
81. Chibber op cil, note 24, p 152.
82. Ibid.
83. 102 Infantry Brigade (India), and elements of the 323 Infantry Brigade and the 86 Infantry Brigade (Pakistan).
84. Maj. Gen. Afsir Karim (Retd), interview with the author. New Delhi, 29 December 1997.
85. A.G. Noorani, 'CBMs for the Siachen Glacier, Sir Creek and Wular Barrage, in Michael Krepon and Amit Sevak (eds). Crisis Prevention, Confidence Building and Reconciliation in South Asia (New Delhi: Manohar, 1996), p 87.
86. 'Fighting for the Roof of the World', Vayu, No 4, 1989, p 14.
87. TOW-2 and MILAN ATGMs.
88. Desmond, op cit, note 9, p 18.
89. The Indian commander at Bilafond La called for blind fire on his own positions.
90. Sharma, op cit, note 2, p 73.
91. Victor, op cit, note 15, p 128.
92. Noorani, op cit, note 85, p 87.
93. Desmond, op cit, note 9, p 18.
94. Indian Defence Review Research Team, op cit, note 26, p 99.
95. Desmond, op cit, note 9, pp 15-16.
96. 'Fighting for the Roof of the World', op cit, note 86, p 14.
97. Ibid.
98. Indian Defence Review Research Team, op cit, note 26, p 99.
99. Foreign Correspondent.
100. Daniel Lak, 'India plans road to Himalayan hotspot', in BBC Online, World: South Asia [http:// news.bbc.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid 161081.stm] 30 August 1998.
101. Kashmir Times, 5 March 1999.
102. 'Fighting for the Roof of the World', op cit, note 86, p 14.
103. Sidhu and Pushkarna, op cit, note 27, p 68.
104. Maj. Gen. Dipankar Banerjee, interview with the author. New Delhi, 10 December 1993.
105. Shujaat Bukhari, 'Defending Siachen at all costs'. The Hindu, 24 July 1997.
106. Indian Defence Review Research Team, op cit, note 26.
107. Sidhu and Pushkarna, op cit, note 27, p 60.
108. Indian Defence Review Research Team, op cit, note 26, p 98.
109. Sidhu and Pushkarna, op cit, note 27, p 63.
110. Foreign Correspondent.
111. For an excellent discussion of nineteenth century antecedents pertaining to the strategic value of the region, see Hopkirk, op cit, note 14.
112. Ibid, p 336.
113. The 'panhandle of Afghanistan, created in the nineteenth century as a buffer between Tsarist Russia and British India.
114. Bhola, op cit, note 43, pp 40-41.
115. Pervez Iqbal Cheema, 'Significance of Pakistan-China Border Acreement of 1963', Pakistan Horizon, Vol 39, No 4, 1986, pp 41-42.
116. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, p 166.
117. Ibid., pp 166-167.
118. Nair, op cit, note 6, p 64.
119. The nerve centre of India's operations in the region.
120. Ibid.
121. Jasjit Singh, op cit, note 3, p 698.
122. Parischa, op cit, note 21, p 859.
123. Ravi Rikhye, The Militarisation of Mother India (New Delhi: Chanakya Publications, 1990), p 25.
124. Bhola, op cit, note 43, pp 43-44.
125. Nair, op cit, note 6, p 64.
126. Ibid. i
127. Jasjit Singh, op cit, note 3, p 700.
128. Manoj Joshi, 'Siachen Glacier incident', Strategic Digest, Vol 15, No 6, 1985, p 671.
129. Bhola, op cit, note 43, pp 43-44.
130. Baladus Goshal, 'South Asian security dynamics: problems and prospects'. Occasional Paper, (University of Illinois at Urbana, 1991), p 7.
131. Ibid.
132. Ibid.. p 8.
133. S.D. Sood, 'South Asia-security perspectives'. Strategic Analysis, Vol 15, No 12, 1993, p 1233.
134. Klintworth. op cit, note 50, p 8.
135. Ibid.. p 12.
136. Ibid., p 15.
137. 'India, China to withdraw troops.
138. Femandes rules out more nuclear tests', Deccan Herald, 27 June 1998.
139. Sidhu and Pushkarna, op cit, note 27, p 59.
140. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, p 96.
141. The official name of this agreement is the 'Agreement on Bilateral Relations Between the Government of Pakistan and the Government of India'.
142. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, p 96.
143. The text of the Simla Agreement is reproduced in many places. See, for example: 'Documentation', Defence Journal, Vol 16, No 3, 1990, pp 38-39.
144. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, p 96.
145. See Samina Yasmeen, 'India and Pakistan: Why the Latest Exercise in Brinkmanship?', Working Paper no. 125, SDSC, ANU, Canberra, 1987.
146. Chibber, op cit, note 24, p 151.
147. Wirsing, op cit, note 4, p 99.
148. Ibid, pp 99-100.
149. Ibid, p 100.
150. John Kaniyalil, 'Indo-Pak relations: an overview'. Strategic Analysis, Vol 14, No 3, 1991, p 181.
151. H.D. Goshal et al. (eds), Unique Quintessence of International Relations (New Delhi: Unique, 1993), p 639.
152. Jasjit Singh, op cit, note 3, p 708.
153. Goshal op cit, note 153, p 639.
154. Sharma, op cit, note 2, p 72.
155. Nair, op cit, note 6, p 67.
156. 156.'Sharma, op cit, note 2, p 72.
157. Nair, op cit, note 6, p 67.
158. Desmond, op cit, note 9, p 19.
159. 'India, Pakistan search for Solution', Australian, 4 January 1994.
160. High Commission of India, Canberra, India News, 17 January 1994.
161. The six 'irritants' are the: Siachen Glacier dispute; NPT issue; disarmament of conventional weapons; Sir Creek Maritime Boundary issue; stabilisation of the LOC; and impediments to steps for greater economic co-operation.
162. 'Indian Proposals Sent to Pak', Times of India, 5 January 1994.
163. 'India's offer for fresh dialogue with Pakistan', Hindustan Times, 5 January 1994.
164. Vernon Hewitt, The New International Politics of South Asia (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997), p 28.
165. Kaniyalil, op cit, note 151, p 181.
166. Wirsing op cil, note 4, p 104.
167. Kaniyalil, op cit, note 151, p 174.
168. See Noorani, op cit, note 85.
169. Desmond, op cit, note 9, p 20.