Siachen Glacier is the largest glacier in India. In fact, it has the distinction of being the largest glacier outside the polar and the sub-polar regions. Siachen glacier is 75.6 km long and 2.8 km wide. It is the source for the 80km-long Nubra River, a tributary of the Shyok, which is part of the Indus River system. The Siachen Glacier lies south of the great watershed that separates China from the Indian subcontinent in the extensively glaciated portion of the Karakoram. The word 'Siachen' means "the place of wild roses". Siachen also has the dubious distinction of being the highest battleground on earth. India and Pakistan have fought intermittently since April 13, 1984. The volume of the glacier has been reduced by 35 percent over the last twenty years. Global warming and military activity have been cited as the main reasons for the receding of the glacier. The Siachen glacier is the most inhospitable and heavily glaciated area in the world and is surrounded by the largest group of first magnitude peaks in the world. The 76.5 Km long Siachen is the second largest glacier outside the polar region and towers at heights of over 22,000 feet (6,700 meters), and where the temperature regularly drops to in -76ºF (-60ºC.)
Siachen is of extreme strategic importance: it commands the only passes from China and Pakistan into Ladakh. Indian occupation of this land prevents China from potentially aiding Pakistan in any conflict in the area, prevents Chinese outflanking in Ladakh, and prevents Pakistan from cutting off northern Ladakh from the rest of India.
^ Map of Siachen Glacier. Indian troops hold 2/3 of the disputed area.
In 1982, Pakistan's design to launch an offensive into the Siachen was pre-empted by the Indian special operation named Operation Meghdoot. Today, over 10,000 Indian troops face 10,000 Pakistani troops at the top of the world. The climate is so hostile, that men must live in igloos, and can only be deployed for a couple months at a time, and only after acclimatization.
Over 650,000 Indian troops have been rotated out of the battlefield in the last 15 years, the basis for the argument that India has among --if not the-- the best high altitude troops in the world. Several Indian infantry battalions and regiments, among them the Ladakh Scouts, are mountain peoples native to the area, and have seen spectacular success in battle, and during the Kargil War.
Below are some recent photos of Indian troops operating in this 'War on the Top of the World'
^ Indian soldiers patrol the Siachen Glacier near the Forward Logistics Base (FLB), a key coordinating point for troops manning the northern part of Siachen
^ A view of the 75-km long Siachen glacier from the cockpit of an Indian air force helicopter
^ With the peaks of the Karakoram range in the background, a group of Indian troops cling to an ice wall during high-altitude training
^ Indian soldiers check their weapons outside a shelter at the Forward Logistics Base. Siachen Glacier stretches away behind them
^ At Siachen Base Camp on the banks of the Nubra River, troops pay their respects at the Siachen War Memorial. On this dangerous battleground, more soldiers die from avalanches than from gunfire
^ New recruits wait their turn during high-altitude training on the glacier
^ A soldier's gun and helmet stands silhouetted against the dark mountain sky at India's Siachen War Memorial
^ Indian soldiers climb an ice wall at the mouth of the Siachen Glacier
^ Indian soldiers pause by a glacial stream as they return to base camp following their tour of duty at higher elevations
^ Soldiers on patrol at 4,900 meters near India's Forward Logistics Base above the Siachen Glacier
This last pic brilliantly encompasses the spirit of the Indian army. It is something that Pakistan will never understand about India: pluralism and freedom.
^ Praying at the all-faith O.P. Baba shrine, dedicated to a fallen Indian soldier, at Siachen Base Camp.
It is the defense of these ideals against an ethno and religiosupremicist military state that is the cause, and will ultimately be the triumph of the Indian in the Siachen.
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