Delhi seeks guarantee on Siachen

The Indian Army will not withdraw from Siachen until Pakistan gives a written guarantee that it will not reoccupy the glacier and is prepared to recognise the Line where the troops are holding position. "We have heard President Pervez Musharraf give this assurance on Siachen not once but several times before, it is nothing new, but our position too is clear, it will be extremely foolish to pull back without written guarantees," authoritative sources said yesterday.

Pakistan newspaper The News had reported that Musharraf assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Pakistan would not re-occupy the vacated glacier if the Indian soldiers moved back, sparking off widespread speculation in official circles.

Noting that the report had not been denied and there had been no political clarification, the sources said, "the Indian Army has always acted in the national interest, and irrespective of the price we have to pay we will not let go (of the glacier)."

Pointing out that "it is comparatively easy to defend and very difficult to reconquer territory in that difficult terrain," the sources said the government must realise this before reaching any political decision based on verbal assurances. "Withdrawal on the basis of verbal assurances will be the most foolish thing India can do," the sources added.

There is apprehension in the Indian Army, generated by media reports and the absence of clarifications from the top, that a deal on Siachen might be worked out between the two governments in the next round of the composite dialogue.

The sources said several suggestions have been tossed around in the long negotiations between India and Pakistan on Siachen but the issue has always got stuck in Pakistan's refusal to recognise the Line held by the troops at this moment, and its unwillingness to reach a written agreement on the larger aspects of the withdrawal. For instance the Indian Army is keen that withdrawal of troops is also backed by an agreement that both sides will place their soldiers at a point where it takes the same number of hours or days to reach the glacier, if required.

Pakistan wants the two armies to go back to the 1971 positions, the sources here said, because this places their troops at an advantageous position.

Another proposal that has been discussed is joint patrolling of the area in preference to a third party. India is also keen to ensure that mountaineering expeditions of any one country are allowed only after they are cleared by both, particularly as it was through what India calls "cartographic aggression" that Pakistan had first tried to occupy Siachen.

Former vice chief of the Indian Army Lt General Vivek Oberoi said the army would like to pull back to less severe heights but would do so only after Pakistan gave the necessary written guarantees and agreed to delineate the Line where the troops are presently holding position.

He said it was true that the Siachen occupation was taking a toll of lives and financial resources but he had no hesitation in pointing out that the Indian Army would not like to withdraw its troops until and unless Pakistan agreed to the proposals that have been placed before it in earlier talks.

General Oberoi said an analogy could be found in 1965 when India gave up Hajipir that it had occupied to Pakistan. He said that now this is so well fortified that it would require a tremendous number of troops and resources to regain this peak if India so desired.

He said that it was imperative that any discussion on Siachen should protect the interests of the country, and that withdrawal should be based on a written agreement protecting the national interest. "We have lost so many men, and faced so much hardship, for what," he said.