Pak pitches for ‘ mutual withdrawal’ in Siachen’
With 10 Indian soldiers perishing in the avalanche on the Siachen glacier, Pakistan on Thursday made a fresh reiteration that both countries should “mutually agree to withdraw from Siachen”, adding that the issue “be treated in an urgent manner between our two countries” to ensure that more lives are not lost on both sides on account of harsh weather conditions. After an avalanche near the Siachen glacier killed 130 Pakistani soldiers in 2012, Pakistan had requested India for withdrawal of troops of both countries from the Siachen region.
India has been maintaining that it would not vacate the glacier unless Pakistan agrees to authentication of the position of ground troops in the region.
With 10 Indian soldiers perishing in the avalanche on the Siachen glacier, Pakistan on Thursday made a fresh reiteration that both countries should “mutually agree to withdraw from Siachen”, adding that the issue “be treated in an urgent manner between our two countries” to ensure that more lives are not lost on both sides on account of harsh weather conditions. After an avalanche near the Siachen glacier killed 130 Pakistani soldiers in 2012, Pakistan had requested India for withdrawal of troops of both countries from the Siachen region.
But despite the deaths of hundreds of Indian soldiers over the past three decades and the mounting human cost of holding on to the Siachen glacier — the world’s highest battlefield where temperatures plummet to minus 50° Celsius — India has been maintaining that it would not vacate the the Siachen glacier unless Pakistan agrees to authentication of the position of ground troops in the region and gives iron- clad guarantees that its troops will not occupy positions vacated by Indian troops. On Thursday, Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit said, “Ten Indian soldiers were killed due to the harsh weather conditions. These tragedies only reinforce the need to resolve this issue urgently, through peaceful means, through dialogue. You would recall that our PM in his address to the UNGA last year had made a specific proposal that both Paki- stan and India mutually agree to withdraw from Siachen. So we strongly feel that to ensure that more lives are not lost due to the harsh conditions at Siachen, we sincerely hope that the issue of Siachen would be treated in an urgent manner between our two countries. And we would be able to resolve this problem by peaceful means.”