Indian prime minister to address troops on world's highest battlefield

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh planned to visit the Siachen Glacier on Sunday, as his government explores the possibility of pulling back troops from the world's highest battlefield.

Singh, the first prime minister ever to visit the desolate glacier, was to address troops at an army base at its foot and later fly over the area for an aerial survey, officials said.

The glacier was the scene of frequent border skirmishes between India and Pakistan before they declared a cease-fire in 2003.

With relations between India and Pakistan improving, both sides have said they are eager to reduce the number of soldiers deployed in the region.

Indian officials said Singh is likely to propose a gradual pullback of troops from the frozen heights, where more soldiers have died from the intense cold than from enemy fire.

However, Singh will have to convince the army that a withdrawal of soldiers from their positions overlooking the glacier will not leave the border vulnerable to occupation by rival Pakistani soldiers.

Last month, Indian and Pakistani officials held talks on resolving the dispute, but failed to agree on delineating the border at the glacier.

There is no definitive border dividing the Siachen Glacier. When the Line of Control, a cease-fire line that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, was set by the two countries after a 1971 war, it did not extend to the northern glacier because the region was considered uninhabitable.

India says the border should run northward in a straight line up to the Chinese border, while Pakistan says it should go northeast following the angle of the Line of Control.

Both India and Pakistan have deployed thousands of troops in the desolate terrain, where they battle altitude sickness and frostbite. Thousands of soldiers have perished on the glacier, in what many in both countries feel is a futile exercise.


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