Operation Meghdoot
16.04.2024
Operation Meghdoot
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For Prelims: About Operation Meghdoot, Strategic Importance of the Siachen |
Why in the news?
The Indian Army recently commemorated 40 years since 'Operation Meghdoot' began for securing the Siachen Glacier.
About Operation Meghdoot:
- It was the code-name for the Indian Armed Forces operation to capture the Siachen Glacier, a strategically crucial region dominating Northern Ladakh.
- Siachen has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan ever since the Karachi Agreement of 1949, when the area was left undivided due to the hostile terrain and extremely rough weather.
- Operation Meghdoot was India’s bold military response to what New Delhi calls Pakistan’s “cartographic aggression” in the uncharted territory of Ladakh, north of map reference NJ9842, where New Delhi and Islamabad had agreed the Line of Control (LoC) ran up to.
- The primary objective behind this operation was to pre-empt the seizure of Sia La and Bilafond La passes by the Pakistan Army.
- Launched on April 13, 1984, this military operation was unique as the first assault launched on the world's highest battlefield.
- It is distinguished by being one of the greatest examples of seamless coordination and synergy between the Indian Army and the Air Force. The military action resulted in Indian troops gaining control of the entire Siachen Glacier.
Strategic Importance of the Siachen:
- Located at a height of around 20,000 feet in the Karakoram Mountain range, the Siachen Glacier is known as the highest militarized zone around the world.
- The Siachen glacier sets the boundary between central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
- It also forms a division between China and Pakistan. Saltoro Ridge in the Siachen glacier acts as a division that averts the linkage of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir with China directly, prohibiting the two from developing geographical military alliances.
- Siachen also helps India to watch over Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan territories. Pakistan taking over Siachen would be a problem for India since Pakistan would threaten India in the west, and China could threaten from the east through Aksai Chin. Since India has access to the Saltoro Ridge, it can deal with territorial disputes with Pakistan in the future in a better way..
Source: Economic times