The first time when Indian forces realised that Pakistan, with the help of the US, was planning something around Siachen, was because of a chance discovery of some maps of the area from some foreign tourists who were exploring the region for trekking.

Speaking at the Military Literature Festival, Kunal Verma, author of the book ‘The Long Road to Siachen’, said, “When officials analysed the maps, it was found that the US had drawn a line which would virtually hand over Siachen glacier to Pakistan.”

It is only after these maps were discovered, coupled with noticing some ground presence of the Pakistan Army, that India became serious about occupying the glacier.

If discovering Pakistan’s ploy was coincidental, the story of how India reached on the glacier first to occupy it, is no less interesting.

Lt Gen Sanjay Kulkarni (retd), said when April 13, 1984, was chosen as the day for the operation to claim and occupy Siachen, some raised doubts that the 13th is an inauspicious day. “But we moved ahead with the plan,” he said.

However, occupying the glacier required high-altitude equipment which had to be purchased from Europe. In January 1984, when Indian officials visited markets in Europe, they found that all of them had already been purchased. Intelligence revealed that Pakistan had purchased them in advance.

Pakistan had decided to launch an operation to Siachen in the first week of March. It was postponed to May 1, 1984, due to bad weather.

“We were unaware about Pakistan’s plan and that it has been postponed to May 1,” said Lt Gen Kulkarni.

Fortunately, the army was successful in arranging the gear in time.

On April 13, 1984, it successfully occupied the glacier and the rest is history.