CONFLICT ZONES
Sir Creek Dispute
Sir Creek is a 96-kilometer tidal estuary located along the border between India and Pakistan, opening into the Arabian Sea. It serves as a natural boundary, separating India’s Gujarat state from Pakistan’s Sindh province.
Pakistan asserts ownership of the entire Sir Creek, claiming that its eastern bank, marked by the "green line" on a 1914 map, falls under its jurisdiction. If India were to accept this claim, it would lose approximately 250 square miles of its Exclusive Economic Zone.
India, in turn, justifies its position by referring to the Thalweg doctrine of international law. This principle holds that boundaries along rivers can be defined by the mid-channel, provided both countries agree. India cites a map from 1925 to support this argument.
| Sir Creek itself has little value. It is a marshy wasteland. But where the boundary line runs through it will determine how much Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) one country will lose or gain. Much of the region is rich in oil and gas below the sea bed, and control over the creek would have a huge bearing on the energy potential of each nation. |
While Pakistan acknowledges the 1925 map, it argues that the Thalweg doctrine is not applicable to Sir Creek, as it is a tidal estuary rather than a non-tidal river, where the doctrine is typically used.
Challenges due to unresolved Sir Creek Issue
Due to lack of proper maritime boundary, inadvertent crossing over of fishermen of both nations
Main route to smuggle drugs, arms and petroleum product to India – exploited by drug syndicate
Terrorists are using disputed area to cross over Indian side. In 26/11 terror attack, terrorists captured an Indian fishing vessel, Kuber, off Sir Creek, and used it to attack
Mumbai.
Designating the non-delineated area of Sir Creek and its approaches-as a zone of disengagement or a jointly administered maritime park is the best way forward.
Siachen Dispute
Siachen is a triangular section of glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range of the Himalayas, just northeast of NJ9842, where the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan ends. This area holds the unfortunate distinction of being the highest battlefield in the world. The Siachen dispute stems directly from the ambiguity in the Karachi ceasefire agreement of July 1949. While the agreement established the ceasefire line and the positions of the two militaries following the 19471948 war, it did not define the area beyond grid reference NJ9842, which is south of the Siachen glacier. Instead, it simply described the line as extending “Chalunka (on the Shyok River), Khor, thence North to the glaciers.”
Since then, both India and Pakistan have interpreted the phrase “thence North to the glaciers” in conflicting ways:
Pakistan argues that the line should extend from NJ9842 directly to the Karakoram Pass on the Sino-Indian border.
India, on the other hand, insists that the line should follow the Saltoro Range north from NJ9842 up to the border with China.
Siachen holds immense strategic importance, lying between Pakistan and China. Pakistan reinterpreted the phrase to claim the territory beyond the Saltoro Ridge, including Siachen, as its own. This would give Pakistan direct access to China and provide strategic oversight over the Ladakh region and the crucial Leh-Srinagar highway, posing a significant threat to India.
In 1983, Pakistan's military leadership decided to stake its claim by deploying troops to the Siachen glacier. In response, India launched Operation Meghdoot in April 1984, seizing the high points of the glacier and triggering the Siachen conflict.
Siachen sits at a very strategic location with Pakistan and China on either side. So Pakistan re-interpreted it as NorthEastwards to claim the area beyond the Saltoro Ridge and beyond Siachen as its own.
.
This would give Pakistan direct connectivity to China as well as a strategic oversight over the Ladakh region and on to the crucial Leh-Srinagar highway posing a serious threat to India.
In 1983, Pakistani generals decided to stake their claim through troop deployments to the Siachen glacier. To preempt Pakistan, India launched Operation Meghdoot in April 1984 and occupied the high points of the glacier and thus precipitating the Siachen conflict.
Why Siachen is such a difficult area to defend?
Besides the twin military threats from Pakistan and China, the climate condition is the biggest challenge for the armed forces. Temperature in Siachen glacier during winters drops to below -50 degrees Celsius.
There are also constant threats of avalanches, crevasses on the glacier, high-speed winds. Soldiers stationed in the area are affected by a range of fatal altitude related ailments like frost bites, hypoxia, hypothermia and white outs.
Cost of military deployment in such inhospitable territory
Both India and Pakistan have deployed around 5,000 troops.
For India, costs of maintenance in the region are about Rs 5 crore a day. India has spent over Rs 7,500 crore for procurement of clothing and mountaineering equipment for soldiers.
In terms of human cost, as many 869 Indian soldiers have lost their lives in Siachen since 1984 due to climatic conditions, in comparison to around 2000 Pakistani soldiers.
In one of the worst-known incidents, 140 Pakistani soldiers were killed after an avalanche slammed into their army camp in Gyari region of Siachen in the year 2012.
Environmental Concerns:
Both India and Pakistan are extremely vulnerable to climate change and face similar food and water security issues. Meanwhile, Siachen has turned into the world’s highest waste dump as none of the supplies, food, oil, equipment returns back and leads to garbage accumulation on peaks of Siachen.
Tonnes of garbage that is inevitably produced such as war material in the form of artillery, small arms, guns, shells, ammunition, wreckage of helicopters, discarded tents and parachutes, evil smelling kerosene, boots, apparel of all sorts, waste food. There is also the tonnes of human waste, packed and thrown down crevasses.
Way Forward for Siachen Dispute?
Science For Peace:
Creating a zone of scientific research. Visiting glacier from both sides of the border to the Siachen region, for scientists and mountaineers and equally sharing any economic revenues from such activity would be a means of operationalizing the resolution of the conflict.
Similar to the Antarctic treaty, neither side would relinquish their claims of sovereignty to the area but would place all such claims in abeyance for the higher purpose of science
Peace Park:
It would mean turning the “entire Siachen region into a peace park as suggested by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a visit to the Siachen base camp in June 2005”.
Siachen would lend itself particularly well to such a solution as it would blend well with the 170 transboundary parks in the world today. Siachen has no resident population; it has no mineral or oil wealth which others may cherish; it is an area of almost ethereal beauty which should be a World Heritage Site.
The symbolic value of establishing a peace park would be immense. It would not only give a boost to peace between two nations but also in whole of South Asian region.