(2 of 3)
Almost from the beginning, New Delhi has argued that India is entitled to control all of Kashmir. Islamabad's claim is more complex: besides supporting a 1949 U.N. call for a plebiscite on Kashmir's future, Pakistan has marshaled what it considers proof that it has all along controlled the area from NJ 9842 to the Karakoram Pass on the Chinese border. Islamabad cites circumstantial evidence, like the fact that mountaineering expeditions for years sought Pakistan's permission to enter the region, and its agreement to cede some of the territory to China in 1963.
India was the first to deploy troops on the Siachen Glacier. In April 1984 the Indian army launched Operation Meghdoot (Cloud Messenger), placing forces at two key passes of the Saltoro Range, which runs along the Siachen Glacier's western edge toward the Chinese border. India says it was pre-empting a planned Pakistani move -- a contention Islamabad denies. The Indian advance captured nearly 1,000 sq. mi. of territory claimed by Pakistan; ever since then New Delhi has wanted to establish a formal boundary along that natural divide. The conflict escalated slowly as each side deployed more men, established more outposts, introduced more artillery and rockets. In September 1987 the action peaked, but neither side has been willing to take the next steps, which might involve introducing air power or expanding the conflict to the south.
The only benefit for both sides has been improvement in their capability for high-altitude warfare. Both forces have built all-weather roads that twist up between towering peaks to base camps on the glaciers. Soldiers spend six weeks acclimatizing to the torturous conditions, learning ice climbing and winter survival. From the camps, men fan out to front-line positions in snow-choked mountain passes. They take turns watching for movement on the other side -- and the opportunity to call in artillery.
The rules of engagement are clear-cut on both sides: if there is a target, fire. Thus the battle is largely indirect, as howitzers and mortars lob shells -- mostly inaccurately -- over the ridges. Infantry assaults are rare, mainly because it is so hard for men to move, let alone charge, at such heights and over crevasse-riddled glaciers. At 18,000 ft. and higher, even a fully acclimatized soldier carrying rifle and combat pack can jog only a few yards without losing his breath. "The terrain does not allow much movement," says a Pakistani officer at an outpost on the Baltoro Glacier. "There is a natural limit to this conflict."
The principal causes of casualties are terrain and weather. Never before have men fought for any length of time at such altitudes, breathing air that contains less than half the oxygen at sea level, at temperatures that drop below -43 degrees F, in blinding blizzards that can last days. Both sides admit that 8 out of 10 casualties are caused by the harsh conditions -- including soldiers being swept away in cascades of snow or tumbling into crevasses. Says a Pakistani officer at the northern end of the Saltoro sector: "We are brave. They are brave. And we both face the same enemies: the weather and the altitude."