In his speech, General Munir highlighted the role of the army in defending the motherland with the support of the people of Pakistan and also touched upon various conflicts with India, including the Kargil War.
Notwithstanding Pakistan's vociferous protests, India will organise a civilian mountaineering and trekking expedition to the forbidding Siachen Glacier for the fourth year in a row in October-November this year. "The Siachen trekking expedition this year is in its planning stage and is likely to take place some time in October-November," an Army officer involved in the planning of the trek said. The expedition has now become an annual affair.
An agreement to demilitarise Siachen alluded as Pakistan says it was for unilateral withdrawal of troops but declines to authenticate the positions on the higher reaches of the glacier held by Indian troops.
Agniveer Akshay Gawate, native of Pimpalgaon Sarai in Maharashtra's Buldhana district, died in the line of duty in Siachen on October 21, 2023.
Indian Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma arrived in Pakistan today for crucial talks on the military standoff on the Siachen glacier against the backdrop of calls to demilitarise the world's highest battlefield following an avalanche that killed 139 people.
This is the first time that an Indian prime minister is visiting the inhospitable glacier.
Pakistan is expected to maintain its old stand of willingness to agree for simultaneous pull back of troops to pre-1984 positions but would not authenticate the present positions held by India on Siachen on the maps as demanded by New Delhi.
For the first time ever, the government has announced the number of Indian soldiers who have laid down their lives in the Siachen sector, ever since the Indian army made its first headlong rush to secure that strategic area in the summer of 1984.
Ahead of the talks next week with Pakistan on Siachen, Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday sought to lower the expectations, saying that no "dramatic announcement or decision" should be anticipated. He said India will stick to its stand on the issue at the defence secretary-level talks in Islamabad on June 11-12
Pay homage to the soldiers who lost their lives in the Siachen avalanche
The report came a day after the Indian Army announced that it launched "punitive fire assaults" on Pak posts.
'We not only have to secure our national interests but also prepare for new national security challenges like cyber warfare and terrorism.'
India's tactical and operational response demonstrated its ability to prosecute tri-service operations, even without a formal tri-service doctrine or the higher command structure needed to coordinate it, points out Ajai Shukla.
He has said vacating the glacier by India would mean inviting Pakistan to 'come in without any botheration'.
After a gap of three years, defence secretaries of India and Pakistan on Monday met to discuss the long-pending Siachen issue.
Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Kamran Rasool beginning in Rawalpindi tomorrow.
One JCO and 9 other ranks of the Indian Army came under the avalanche.
The trekking expedition comprising cadets from the National Cadet Corps will set off on a 22-day trip to the glacier.
In an unusual remark, Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani has said that one of the reasons for recent devastating floods in his country could be human activity on the heavily-militarised Siachen glacier.
The defence minister said the country needed a "second Green Revolution" to meet the challenges of feeding the growing population
With cricket frenzy peaking in the country during the last week of the World Cup, army jawans posted at remote outposts of the inhospitable Siachen glacier were also not to be left behind -- getting ball-by-ball updates via satellite phones.
India should encourage the second coming of SAARC with climate change as an urgent agenda and keeping Indian security concerns in mind as the subtext, suggest Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
'Our politicians solely depend on bureaucrats who are unaccountable and follow their own agenda.' 'Our politicians would dare not dream of establishing a DOGE,' argues Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Pakistan's reluctance to authenticate has prevented any move in talks over the issue.
The Army, stated that "in view of conflicting messages on social media regarding financial assistance to the Next of Kin of the deceased, it was important to clarify that emoluments due to the Next of Kin were governed by the relevant terms and conditions of service of the soldier".
Indian and Pakistani officials have made no forward movement on resolving the military standoff on the Siachen glacier, with both sides sticking to their stated positions in two-day talks, diplomatic and official sources said on Tuesday.
Upgraded Chetak, christened Chetan, successfully completes hot and high altitude tests in the Siachen Glacier
A spokesperson has said the proposal was mentioned at the recent talks.
The talks will be held in Islamabad, sources told PTI in Delhi on Monday after a meeting between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri.
The village of Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad plunged into grief as he passed away on Thursday after battling for life since his miraculous survival in Siachen, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah leading the state in paying homage to the braveheart from Karnataka.
India and Pakistan on Wednesday failed to reach any agreement on demilitarisation of the Siachen glacier as "differences" continued to persist on authentication of positions held by the armed forces.
Pakistan's powerful army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has contended that India had hardened its position on the Siachen issue, especially compared to the situation in 1989, when the two sides were "close to a resolution".
With both India and Pakistan sticking to their respective rigid stances, the two-day defence secretary level talks are unlikely to see any breakthrough. Amir Mir reports from Islamabad.
After both grandfathers, father and uncle, Lieutenant Tanishka Damodaran is the first girl from the family to join the Indian Army. She will join her first posting in Kashmir soon and hopes to follows her family tradition of joining the Paras.
Indian and Pakistani Defence secretaries are likely to discuss ways to reduce tension in Siachen next month.
