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On 13 April 1984, sorties of light helicopters dropped an officer and 30 men of 4 Kumaon below Bilafond La on the Saltoro Ridge. They were cut off for three days. Op Meghdoot began on an ominous note as an NCO died on the first night of cardiac arrest. Not a shot had been fired.
The fighting was to come later after the photo ops with senior commanders. A small show of force became the longest operation for the Indian army expanding to a frontage of over 100 kms with a brigade plus size force deployed by both sides.
The casualties on the Indian side are 1000 soldiers killed, mostly due to the altitude and terrain and several thousand injured & maimed in body & mind. Avalanches and crevasses have taken a heavy toll of soldiers on both sides.
Do see the altitudes of the passes being held along the Ridge. Indira Col, Sia La, Bilafond La & Gyong La, in the sketch below. Anyone spent a night or more at 20k feet? I spent one at the summit camp to Leo Pargial, as a young, fit & acclimatised gentleman cadet in 67.
When you lie down, you feel that someone is sitting on your chest. You struggle to breathe and keep sitting up to improve oxygen intake. The human body is not designed to survive at these altitudes. To continue to keep soldiers deployed for months is poor generalship indeed.
The strategic reasons for continuing with the occupation have been trashed by several senior officers, however do read Gen VR Raghavan's 'Siachen - Conflict Without End' & Myra MacDonald's 'White As The Shroud'. Myra has visited both sides of the Glacier.
There is now an environmental threat which has emerged due to the formation of glacial lakes on account of warming. The presence of 10k troops in an eco sensitive area is also a contributing factor. Kerosene is used for cooking & warming with soot settling on the Glacier.
A small earthquake can trigger a collapse of lakes which have deepened in the Siachen, Remo and Baltoro Glaciers. Please see the mapping below from a recent paper.
Demilitarisation of the Siachen Glacier can be the next step to peace in South Asia. Claims can be frozen like in the Antarctic. It is ridiculous to continue to deploy troops at heights of twenty thousand feet when sat surveillance, an air force and drones can do the job.
Will leave it there. Am tagging a few handles who may find this interesting. @myraemacdonald @bsdhanoa @Libertarian196 @ParaRjs @ChandrusWeb @beenasarwar @rwac48 @BhaduriRajendra @BDUTT @VVSNair @haqsmusings A picture of troops atop the Ridge. Their's not to reason why.
