MP's NCC cadets head for Siachen

Bhopal, Aug 15 (UNI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has flagged off a 3,600-km Yuva Shakti Sadbhavana car rally by 35 NCC cadets, including 15 girls, who will reach the world's highest battlefield -- the Siachen Glacier -- after traversing six states.

''The initiative of taking water from the Mahanadi and Narmada and releasing it in the Nubra river will symbolise cultural oneness.

I hope the NCC will continue to strengthen the nation,'' Mr Chouhan said.

Official sources said today that the cadets would return on September 4. NCC Director Deepak Sood presented a memento to the chief minister.

The glacier, bordering on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and China, is the most prominent feature of the Saltoro mountain range that lies at the extreme northwest of Karakoram region.

Siachen is north of NJ9842, the last point on the Line of Control.

The basis of the controversy over the glacier lies in non-demarcation on the map beyond NJ9842. The 1949 Karachi agreement and the 1972 Simla agreement assumed that it was unfeasible for human habitation to survive north of NJ9842. Prior to 1984 neither India nor Pakistan had any permanent presence in the area.

OP Meghdoot was launched on April 13, 1984 with the Indian Army and IAF establish a presence on the glacier. Pakistan quickly responded with troop deployment.

Incidentally, Siachen is a Balti word meaning 'Land of Roses' due to abundance of blackish wild roses in adjoining valleys. It is the world's largest non-polar glacier and thus sometimes referred to as the third pole.

UNI AC VD KN1845