Growing murmurs of disapproval are rising in Indian military and diplomatic circles over the recent Track II diplomacy over the Siachen glacier. Sources say that military veterans are adamant that a settlement can give no advantage to India and would only enhance the bruised status of the Pakistan army within that nation’s public life.
Moreover, given the Sino-Pak nexus and Chinese presence in the Shaksgam Valley north of Siachen and in Aksai Chin to its east, plus the ISI’s continuing links with terrorist networks in India, there is simply no merit in a retreat from the glacier. Yet it is undeniable that Islamabad has successfully suborned the national consensus on this strategic issue.
The disquiet relates to the recent military-to-military (actually retired officers) confidence building measures in Lahore from September 23-25, 2012. This was followed by a round table discussion in Delhi on October 15, 2012, where both the Lahore dialogue and the Indus Water Treaty were discussed. Select officers from the Army and members of the CLAWS faculty were present at the Delhi conclave.
The Lahore Track II meeting was the third such conclave (previous ones having being held in Dubai and Bangkok), wherein both sides reportedly reached an ‘agreement’ on resolving the Sir Creek and Siachen disputes. The apprehension among nationalists is whether the shaky UPA regime is covertly agreeing to American pressure to surrender Indian interests in this strategic sector without taking the Indian public in confidence.
In a political environment in which citizens and retired veterans alike are demanding unveiling of the true facts behind the military debacles of 1947 and 1962, and public protests over the secret diplomacy that led India to unilaterally surrender the gains of military action in 1965 and 1971 are growing, it is amazing that such furtive manoeuvres persist.
With American troops slated to leave Afghanistan soon, and Islamabad determined to give New Delhi no space in what it considers its backyard, how can Siachen be discussed in isolation to larger developments in the region? It is admitted that official talks regarding conventional and nuclear CBMs have failed. What can Track II achieve that official talks cannot?
Military veterans are aghast that the Atlantic Council of Ottawa which broke the news of the Track II accord, had actually sponsored the dialogue, no doubt with the blessings of the American, Canadian and British global policemen who are determined to demilitarize the glacier. A veteran present at the Lahore talks privately told to an interlocutor that the Track II Team was handpicked by the Atlantic Council of Ottawa and not the Government of India! The complete expenses of travel and stay were also borne by the Council.
As senior retired military and diplomatic officers, surely the participants would have known that the Atlantic Council of Ottawa and Atlantic Council of US are extensions of the Pakistani Army which would obviously be funding this so-called diplomacy. So despite the Ghulam Nabi Fai debacle, our people are determined to learn nothing from history, so desperate is the craving for foreign trips in five star comfort. We need to know more about the covert official backing for such talks, if any, in the light of the experience that persons who availed of the dubious hospitality of Ghulam Nabi Fai were appointed by the Union Home Ministry as interlocutors on Jammu & Kashmir.
Worse, though the Track II groups (that is, individuals selected by the Atlantic Council for unknown qualities) informed the Ministry of External Affairs and the military brass about their meeting and sought some inputs. Some MEA officials did meet them but did not even mention Siachen, nor did the team ask questions on the subject.
The Military, however, was adamant that it did not favour any demilitarization. General VK Singh when approached reportedly retorted, “What bloody demilitarization? Don’t let the @#$%$#@S discuss this. There is nothing to discuss with Pakistan over Siachen”. The new Army Chief General Bikram Singh was equally explicit, “Tell the $##s (in Punjabi) to first stop exporting terrorism. No question of discussing any demilitarization”.
So why did the Government of India let this handpicked group of retired military and diplomatic officers including a self-righteous journalist, go to Lahore and discuss and even agree to demilitarization? What is the legal standing of this group? It would be in the fitness of things for the Government of India to quickly take an official view on this Ottawa-funded jamboree from the account reportedly furnished to the Ministries of Defence, External Affairs, the NSA and the Service Chiefs. There is need to crack down of such potentially harmful ‘private initiatives’.
It is scandalous that a bunch of individuals selected by a foreign body most likely funded by the Pakistan Army / ISI, with no authority to discuss geo-strategic matters, went and in violation of the Indian constitution and the 1994 Parliament Resolution reiterating claim over the entire J&K State as acceded to India by Maharaja Hari Singh in October 1947, agreed to demilitarize the Siachen glacier. This, despite being told by the outgoing and current Army Chief, that the matter was non-negotiable.
According to the gist of the Lahore discussions, Pakistan is reportedly willing to forego its claim on Sir Creek and the dispute can be resolved. Both sides reportedly agreed to set up a joint commission to delineate the line beyond NJ 9842, consistent with existing Agreements; that present ground positions would be jointly recorded and records exchanged; the determination of places to which redeployment will be affected would be jointly agreed; disengagement and demilitarisation would occur in accordance with a mutually acceptable timeframe; prior to withdrawal, each side will undertake to remove munitions and other military equipment and waste from areas of its control; and ongoing cooperative monitoring of these activities and the resulting demilitarised zone would be agreed to ensure/assure transparency.
Military veterans aver that India cannot surrender such a strategic height in such a sensitive sector.
NitiCentral.com, 11 November 2012
http://www.niticentral.com/2012/11/is-congress-slyly-selling-out-on-siachen.html