Leh: The Indian Air Force (IAF), the Army's lifeline in maintaining troops in the world's highest battlefield Siachen, ruled out shutting its airfield here in the event of any demilitarisation along the glacier.
"There is no question of shutting this airfield. Its importance is not only from the strategic point of view, but also as a lifeline to the civilians," Air Officer-in-chief of the Western Command, Air Marshal A K Singh said on Thursday.
"If de-escalation takes places, like everybody else I hope it does, the role of IAF will remain. Certain role will be played in maintaining the troops. Our role will certainly remain," he said.
The airfield is located at a height of 10,060 feet, at the confluence of three great ranges, the Karokaram in north-east, the Ladakh ranges in the south and the Saltoro ranges in north-west.
Asked if the de-escalation is in the pipeline, with a ceasefire in place along the LoC and with CBMs having bettered Indo-Pak relations, Singh said that while any decision on this would be taken by the Government, the process could never be a one-step affair.
He further laid emphasis on Pakistan authenticating the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) and added that "a broad based arrangement has to be in place where both sides say we will respect our positions rather than have aspirations to move forward or behind."
On the possibility of UAVs for surveillance of the AGPL and the use of technology in place of humans who now face extreme mercury fluctuations between 35 degrees Celsius to as low as minus 30 degrees C, Singh whose area of Command stretches from Siachen to Bikaner in Rajasthan, said replacing human factor was not entirely possible.
"You cannot totally depend on technology to man your vast boundaries. We have got to consider that wind speed here can exceed 120 kmph and there are other factors too. It is difficult that satellite link for the UAV will work in these conditions," he said.
Singh said the IAF required 80 helicopters, a large number of radars for guidance and surveillance among other equipment.
Highlighting the role played by the IAF in guarding the Siachen sector, he said the conditions where the men operated were extremely difficult, inaccessible and caused many casualties besides involving huge sums of money.
He said there were instances when soldiers manning the posts in Siachen have to be force fed with chocolates because they lost appetite and feared to defecate knowing that they would have to take out clothes in harsh conditions.
"There is constant requirement of oxygen and medicare for our men. We have lost a lot of men-officers here. There are virtually bottomless areas as 8,000 feet where even a body cannot be retrieved," he said.
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