Indian Army will be examining the Chinese military implications of physically occupying Shaksgam Valley as it could directly cause a security threat for Indian guarding forces on Siachen Glacier. The disputed 576100 sq km of land in Shaksgam Valley, on Pakistan’s territory, was indirectly handed over to China by Pakistan in 1963.
When India last week expressed its strong protest about Chinese road construction in Kashmir, it was Delhi as well as Beijing where it happened. The road appears to be a part of that alignment, which connects the Karakoram Highway with the Upper Shaksgam Valley, which borders the Siachen Glacier. Delineating the 101 km new road, the terminating point of the Gwadar-Khunjerab ECID would be situated at the Aghil Pass, transversing through 16333 feet and hence ensuring the alternate alignment via Upper Shaksgam to the Khunjerab Pass in the Northern Areas of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The issue is at alarming level for India, similarly if China constructs the road Upper Shaksgam Valley, then we will get two enemies beam-like to the south and China will be there in the north. If we follow the logic given a possible expansion of the Chinese grip in the Occupied Shaksgam Valley, the Indian Army surely has to contemplate long-term defensive tactics to tackle it.
Even the current strategic choice is made on “shoulder-to- shoulder” alignment in the long run, while road and military outposts installation is an evident fact of China’s ambition for linking Lower and Upper Shaksgam valleys to pressure Indian positions on Siachen glacier and Saltoro ridge.
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