. @Pragmatic_d on Siachen glacier “Conflict”

The only way India can pacify Hafiz Saeed is by renegotiating Indus Water Treaty and stopping construction of all dams. Let’s debate it too.

Nearly 1.5 lakh Indian lives were lost in road accidents in 2010. Time we vacated the roads, the way we want to talk about vacating Siachen.

How many Indian lives were wasted in trying to recapture Kargil-Dras in 1999? Do we want an encore by talking of vacating Siachen?

What kind of romanticism drives ideas about vacating Siachen? Will you be able to hold Pakistan accountable after what happened with 26-11?

Please do not insult the soldiers who have laid their lives to get us into these dominating military positions in Siachen. Let’s get real.

.@ikaveri How can we forget the price we paid for abandoning Tiger Hill in Kargil? Never again! “Height advantage at Saltoro Ridge #Siachen”

@ayazalam Yes, precisely.

When the first Indian soldiers went & fought at Siachen, they fired weapons after heating them on stoves. Tragic that such stories forgotten

@sunnysingh_sw6 I am angry at this nonsense that Siachen must be demilitarised so that some of us can feel good about it.

The best friggin part. We are talking about vacating Siachen when we hold dominating positions & haven’t lost a soldier there in 8 years.

@theSaketRanjan I am willing to be corrected, if you can send me the data. I am quoting from Ajai Shukla’s report of September 2011.

Supreme irony. How many of us even remember the date when Operation Meghdoot was launched in Siachen? April 13th, 1984. Tomorrow, 28 years.

@sunnysingh_sw6 I know. This bunkum must stop. Enough of this “let’s look good” diplomatic business.

@sunnysingh_sw6 I am too angry to write now. Need to clam down and then lambast this nonsense in writing.

OK. Let me calmly try some myths versus reality about Siachen. In the next few tweets.

1- Myth: India and Pakistan are fighting at Siachen. Fact: India won long ago wt Siachen when it launched Op Meghdoot in 1984.

2- Myth: India is losing hundreds of soldiers every year to inclement weather. Fact: India has barely lost a handful since the ’04 ceasefire

3- Myth: India can’t afford the economic drain of staying at Siachen. Fact: If India can afford an NREGA & RT Food, Siachen is miniscule.

4- Myth: Siachen has no strategic significance. Fact: Try and see the map to understand what Saltoro ridge means & what it overlooks.

5- Myth: Indian army stalled demilitarisation of Siachen agreed upon by Rajiv Gandhi & Benazir. Fact: Pakistan refused to validate the AGPL.

6- Myth: Its an ecological disaster & we should vacate it as a goodwill gesture. Fact: Yes, affects local environment but who’ll recapture.

7- Myth: India started it at Siachen. Fact: Pakistan was undertaking cartographic aggression, depicting region as it part. Sent mountaineers

OK. My rants on Siachen are over. Thanks for bearing with me.