OPERATION MEGHDOOT
On April 13, 1984,
the Indian Army mounted the secretly planned
Operation Meghdoot, and took control of the Siachen Glacier.
Forty years later, we look remember the planners of this lightening strike that would catch
Pakistan by surprise, even as
it was denied access to the glacier and key heights surrounding it for all times to come.
EXERCISE WALNUT CRACKER
Around
17 days before the army launched a preemptive operation to occupy certain heights around siachen glacier, the top brass of
HQs 15 Corps gathered in a
war game at the headquarters in Srinagar to fine-tune the bold move.
Exercise Walnut Cracker, as it was named,
war-gamed the operational and logistical aspects of the eventually world-famous Operation Meghdoot.
THE OPERATION
The
eventual permission for Op Meghdoot was given by the
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi after the Army brass made a comprehensive presentation on the Operation to
the then Defence Minister R Venkataraman.
Eventually,
the operation worked like clockwork due to the
meticulous planning done beforehand.
Maj R S Sandhu and
Captain Sanjay Kulkarni of
4 Kumaon, with one platoon, were
dropped by helicopter about three kilometres short of
Bilafond La on April 13. The
pass was secured in the next few days, a delay caused by inclement weather.
Sia La was occupied by April 17.
THE DESTINATION
The Army record of
Operation Meghdoot mentions that a
foot column led by
Capt PC Yadav reached the Glacier subsequently after an extremely strenuous four-day march over extremely inhospitable terrain.
The column set up Camps I, II and III to maintain newly established posts on the Glacier.
In March 1984, another Kumaon Battalion earmarked for the operations in Siachen Glacier had accomplished a rare feat.
As per Army Records, the entire unit moved on a man-pack basis, on foot during winter, from its permanent location in Khrew in Kashmir valley to the base of Siachen Glacier led by its CO, Lt Col DK Khanna.
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