Siachen lessons give India an advantage over China

NEW DELHI: The Indian Army’s decades-long experience in highaltitude warfare -- particularly the lessons learnt in Siachen -bestow a tremendous advantage on Indian soldiers holding inhospitable and rugged heights in eastern Ladakh to prevent the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from altering status quo in the sensitive theatre that has been at the centre of border tensions between India and China for nearly eight months, officials familiar with mountain warfare said on Saturday.

The Indian Army has an upper hand over PLA as the latter lacks combat experi ence in high-altitude warfare and has not permanently deployed troops to extreme heights the way India has to secure its farthest frontiers, said one of the officials cited above, asking not to be named.

With military and diplomatic talks to reduce tensions along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) deadlocked, India and China are prepared for a long haul in the eastern Ladakh theatre where rival troops are holding towering heights including deployments at an altitude of nearly 20,000 feet in the mountains near Pangong Tso.

The Indian Army has perfected its mountain warfare drills over decades and its soldiers possess the tenacity and resilience to overcome the toughest challenges that extreme altitudes pose, said a second official.

Apart from the tough physical and mental makeup of soldiers, the Indian Army’s demonstrated ability to support frontline military operations with superior logistics, advances in high-altitude medicine, critical understanding of acclimatisation in mountains and air support are factors that put the army in an advantageous position in eastern Ladakh, experts said.

“Conditions at Siachen are infinitely more challenging than eastern Ladakh. The lessons learned in terms of survival, health care, protection from cold injuries and avalanche rescue will be of tremendous help,” said former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd).

The army and air force helicopter pilots are the lifeline of troops deployed at Siachen. “These pilots are very familiar with high-altitude operations and their role in supporting troops in eastern Ladakh will be a great plus for us,” Hooda added. In eastern Ladakh, Indian soldiers are holding positions at heights of almost 20,000 feet in the Finger Area on the northern bank of Pangong Tso.

Temperatures in some pockets can dip to minus-40 degrees Celsius.

Conditions at Siachen are infinitely more challenging than eastern Ladakh. The lessons learned... will be of tremendous help LT GEN DS HOODA (RETD), Former Northern Army commander