The Indian newspaper,The Hindu, has reported that the Indian "has set its face against the demilitarisation of the Siachen Glacier, arguing that India would lose its strategic advantage if the troops are ordered to vacate the icy heights" because "the power which controls Siachen will have military advantage since it looks over the Shyok and Nubra valleys of Ladakh" and the Indian "military presence would eliminate Pakistan's design on Ladakh" and "it projects our military strength and capability in operating in such a difficult terrain. It also shows our national resolve to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity," .
"The Army said maintaining a full-scale presence in the Siachen Glacier — wedged between Shaksgam Valley (China) and Baltistan (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) — could govern future boundary talks with China on the Shaksgam Valley.
The Army articulated its views a few days before the Indo-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' meeting to discuss, among other issues, dates for the Defence Secretary-level interaction on demilitarising the glacier.
The roots of the Indo-Pakistani conflict lie in the non-demarcation of the ceasefire line on the map beyond a coordinate known as NJ 9842. While signing the Karachi Agreement on the ceasefire line in 1949 and later during the Shimla Agreement in 1972 both sides felt that it was not possible to conduct military operations at such heights.
Army officers also referred to the prognosis that half a century later wars would be over water to argue for a continued military presence in the region. "The Siachen Glacier is basically a 5,000 square km water reservoir. We already have problems with Pakistan over the Kishanganga barrage. This could become another trouble spot if we vacate the area."
The Army said it occupied the surrounding heights in 1984 to thwart Pakistani designs on the area. Since then the saga of "Operation Meghdoot" continues in which 600 soldiers have died due to bad weather and enemy firing. One of the longest sustaining operations by the Indian Army and also the costliest ever.
The region has seen several instances of super-human feats in a place where walking is a challenge. In 1987 soldiers scaled a 1,500-foot ice wall at night to dislodge the Pakistanis from a 21,753-foot post that had made it difficult for the Indian Army to survive and sustain operations at the lower heights. The post has since been named Bana Post after the leader of the platoon which was the first to engage the Pakistani soldiers. Since retired, Bana Singh was awarded the Param Vir Chakra.
An officer cited an old Ladakhi saying to make his point about the region: "The land is so barren and the passes so high that only the best of friends or fiercest of enemies would like to visit us."
