Operation Meghdoot

Operation Meghdoot was the codename for the Indian Army operation to take full control of the Siachen Glacier in Ladakh. Executed on the morning of 13 April 1984 in the highest battlefield in the world, Meghdoot was the first military offensive of its kind. This operation preempted Pakistan's Operation Ababeel and was a success, resulting in Indian forces gaining control of the Siachen Glacier in its entirety.

Currently, the Indian Army remains the first and only army in the world to have deployed tanks and other heavy ordnance at altitudes well over 5,000 meters. Up to ten infantry battalions each of the Indian Army and Pakistan Army are actively deployed at high altitudes of up to 6,400 meters throughout the region due to the present Siachen conflict.

Cause of conflict
The Siachen Glacier became a bone of contention following a vague demarcation of territories in the Karachi Agreement of July 1949 which did not exactly specify who had authority over the Siachen Glacier area. Indian interpretation was that Pakistan territory extended only to about the Saltoro Ridge, where the territorial line's route after the last demarcated Point NJ9842 was "thence north to the glaciers." Pakistan interpretation was that their territory continued northeast from Point NJ9842 to the Karakoram Pass. As a result, both nations claimed the barren heights and the Siachen Glacier.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Pakistan permitted several mountaineering expeditions to climb the peaks in the Siachen region from the Pakistani side, perhaps in an attempt to reinforce their claim on the area as these expeditions received permits obtained from the Government of Pakistan and in many cases a liaison officer from the Pakistan Army accompanied the teams. In 1978, the Indian Army also allowed mountaineering expeditions to the glacier, approaching from its side. The first one launched in 1978 by Colonel Narinder Kumar of the Indian Army, who led an expedition to Teram Kangri, along with medical officer Captain AVS Gupta. The Indian Air Force provided valuable logistics support to this expedition and supply of fresh rations. The first air landing on the glacier was carried out on 6 October 1978 when two casualties were evacuated from the Advance Base Camp in a Chetak helicopter by Squadron Leader Monga and Flying Officer Manmohan Bahadur.

In 1980, the Commander of 3 Artillery Brigade, Brigadier K N Thadani VSM, led a 68-member Indian Army military expedition (consisting of 2 Majors, 5 Captains, 1 Second Lieutenant and 59 Other Ranks of the army) to Apsarasas-1 a part of the Apsarasas Kangri sub-range in the Siachen Glacier, Ladakh. On 18 September 1980, 16 members of the Indian Army expedition successfully scaled the summit. Then in 1984, Lieutenant Colonel Prem Chand Snow Tiger, of the Dogra Regiment led a 54-member Indian Army military expedition (consisting of Officers and Other Ranks of the army) to K12 on the Saltoro Range in the Siachen Glacier, Ladakh. On 17 October 1984, members of the Indian Army expedition successfully summited the peak.

Notably, when Pakistan gave permission to a Japanese expedition to scale an important peak (Rimo I) in 1984, it further fueled the suspicion of the Indian Government of Pakistani attempts to legitimize their claim. The peak, located east of the Siachen Glacier, also overlooks the northwestern areas of the Aksai Chin, an area which is a part of India, but illegally occupied by China. The Indian military believed that such an expedition could further link up the northeastern side to the southwestern side of the Karakoram Range and eventually provide a strategic, if not tactical, advantage to Pakistan.

Planning
The Indian Army decided to deploy troops from the northern Ladakh region as well as some paramilitary forces to the glacier area. Most of the troops had been acclimatized to the extremities of the glacier through a training expedition to Antarctica in 1982 before eventually launching the operation to occupy the complete glacier. In 1983, Pakistani generals decided to stake their claim through troop deployments to the Siachen glacier. After analyzing the Indian Army's mountaineering expeditions, they feared that India might capture key ridges and mountain passes near the glacier, and decided to send their own troops first. Pakistan ordered Arctic weather gear from a London supplier, unaware that the same supplier provided outfits to the Indians. The Indians were informed about this development and initiated their own plan, providing them with a head start.

The Indian Army planned the operation to control the glacier by 13 April 1984, to preempt the Pakistani Army by about 4 days, as intelligence had reported that the Pakistani operation planned to occupy the glacier by 17 April. Operation Meghdoot was led by Lieutenant General P N Hoon. The task of occupying the Saltoro ridge was given to the Commander of 26 Sector, Brigadier Vijay Channa, who was tasked with launching the operation between 10 and 30 April. He chose 13 April, as it was Vaisakhi, and the Pakistanis would be least expecting the Indians to launch an operation. The preparations for Operation Meghdoot started with the airlift of troops and supplies by the Indian Air Force to the base of the glacier area.

Execution
The first phase of the operation began in March 1984, a battalion of the Kumaon Regiment under the command of Lt Col D K Khanna and units of the Ladakh Scouts, marched on foot with full battle packs through a snow bound Zoji La for days to avoid detection.

The first unit led by Major R S Sadhu was tasked with establishing a position on the heights of the glacier. The next unit led by Captain Sanjay Kulkarni and Second Lieutenant Anant Bhuyan secured Bilafond La. The remaining units led by Captain P V Yadav moved forward and climbed for four days to secure the remaining heights of the Saltoro Ridge. By 13 April, approximately 300 Indian troops were dug into the critical peaks and passes of the glacier.

By the time Pakistani troops managed to get to the area, they found that the Indian Army had control over all major mountain passes of Sia La, Bilafond La and Gyong La and all the commanding heights of the Saltoro Ridge west of the Siachen Glacier. Handicapped by the altitude and the limited time, Pakistan could only manage to control the Saltoro Ridge's western slopes and foothills; despite the fact that Pakistan possessed more ground accessible routes to the area, unlike Indian access which was largely reliant on air drops for supplies due to the steeper eastern side of the glacier.

The Indian Army advance now controlled 985.71 sq mi (2,553.0 km2) of its own territory. Camps were soon converted into permanent posts by both countries. The number of casualties on both sides during this particular operation is not known.

Casualties
No reliable data is available on the number of casualties on both sides during this particular operation. Both sides incurred most of their casualties from the weather and the terrain; and avalanches and crevasses during patrols.

Aftermath
The operation resulted in India gaining the 70 kilometers long Siachen Glacier and all of its tributary glaciers, as well as the three main passes on the Saltoro Ridge immediately west of the glacier; Sia La, Bilafond La, and Gyong La. Thus, giving India the tactical advantage of holding higher grounds. The AGPL runs roughly along the Saltoro Ridge which extends nearly 120 kilometers from Point NJ9842 to the Shaksgam Tract (a part of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir; which Pakistan had illegally ceded to China in 1963).

The operation and the continued cost of maintaining logistics to the area is a major drain on both militaries. Pakistan launched an all-out assault in 1987 and again in 1989 to capture the ridge and passes held by India. The first assault was headed by (then) Brig Pervez Musharraf and initially managed to capture a few high points before being pushed back. Later the same year, Pakistan lost at least one major Pakistani post, the "Quaid", which came under Indian control as Bana Post, in recognition of Bana Singh who launched a daring daylight attack, codenamed Operation Rajiv, after climbing 1500 ft of ice cliff. Bana Singh was awarded the Param Vir Chakra–the highest gallantry award of India for the assault that captured the post.

Bana Post is the highest battlefield post in the world today at a height of 22143 ft above sea level. During 1988, the adversary made repeated attempts to take Bana Post, during their last attempt to take this key post on 9 May 1988 they fixed four ropes and a ladder system on the ice wall below the post. Although, the attack was unsuccessful, the ropes and ladder system fixed by the adversary remained in position, making it possible for them to be used again in fresh attempts to take the post. It was imperative that these fixed ropes were cut and the ladder unfixed to prevent fresh attacks. On 18 May 1988 two of the four ropes were cut. On 26 May 1988, the Observation Post Officer, Captain Pratap Singh of 75 Medium Regiment, decided to cut the remaining two ropes and unfix the ladder. On reaching the location, he found a large quantity of ammunition and grenades lying at the head of the ropes. While examining the same, a grenade booby trap exploded severely wounding him. Despite being wounded, the brave officer crawled forward and cut the two remaining fixed ropes with his knife and unfixed the ladder system and let it fall down the ice wall. Then the gallant officer inched back to his own rope to come up the ice wall to return to his post but collapsed due to his severe wounds and made the supreme sacrifice for the nation. The second assault in 1989 was also unsuccessful and the ground positions did not change.

In popular media
Operation Meghdoot: How India Captured Siachen (Battle Ops) (2018) is a TV documentary which premièred on the Discovery Channel's Veer by Discovery series, Battle Ops.