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NEW DELHI: India is not going to give up its tactical and strategic advantage over Pakistan in the Siachen Glacier-Saltoro Ridge region anytime soon, even though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may still want to convert it into "a mountain of peace". The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by the PM, on Thursday cleared the "brief" for the 13th round of the defence secretary-level talks to be held with Pakistan in Islamabad on June 11-12. Sources said the Indian delegation, led by defence secretary Shashikant Sharma, will insist Pakistan first agree to the three sequential "pre-requisites" of authentication, delineation and...

In Siachen, Dhruv proves a world-beater Ajai Shukla / Bangalore March 7, 2011, 0:48 IST It was a brutal test of helicopter and pilot. As the Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) shuddered towards the icy helipad on a 21,000-foot ledge overlooking the Siachen Glacier, the pilots could see wreckage from earlier helicopter crashes dotting the base of the vertical ice walls on either side. Ahead lay the Indian Army’s infamous Sonam Post, the highest inhabited spot on earth, and an extreme example of why the military so urgently wants the Dhruv, which has been customised by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)...

Army to import helicopters for Siachen duty By Sandeep Dikshit NEW DELHI, OCT. 2. Even as India and Pakistan discuss the possibility of demilitarising the Siachen Glacier, called the highest battleground in the world, the Army is going ahead with long-term plans to ferry its troops and keep them replenished in the region with supplies of food and ammunition. The Army has received helicopters, especially designed for operation in high altitude areas from three major manufacturers based in Russia, the United States and Europe. Based at an Army base in Punjab, these helicopters are being checked for technical specifications. They...

ON the world's highest and most hostile battlefield where daily shelling continues, India and Pakistan have fought for 16 years over a glacier.At 20,000 feet, it is so hard to breathe that simply walking requires a rest after every four paces, and so cold that the merest touch of metal on skin produces instantaneous frostbite. Speaking makes the head spin and the lack of oxygen can cause the lungs to fill with blood and fluid, suffocating the victim.Yet up here, amid the soaring peaks where the Karakoram and Himalayas meet, elite forces of the Indian and Pakistani armies are waging...