The Siachen-Karakoram Peace Park Initiative: Prospects for South Asia

1
The Siachen-Karakoram Peace Park
InitiativeProspects for South Asia

• Dr. Saleem H. Ali
• University of Vermont,
• Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural
  Resources
• Brown University,
• Watson Institute for International Studies
• Email Saleem_at_alum.mit.edu

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Kashmir and Siachen

• Territorial conflict since partition of Muslim
  and Hindu majority areas in 1947 creation of
  India and Pakistan
• Conflict narrative of who was there first and
  for how long -- displacement from Eden and
  Himalaya
• Following wars in 1948, 1967 and 1971, a line of
  control was established in 1972 up to the
  geographic survey point NJ 9842 - after which the
  demarcation is defined as from there on to north
  to the glaciers
• 1984 Indian preemptive move to capture positions
  along the Siachen glacier (The Name of the Rose)
• Since then both sides have maintained a military
  presence and exchanged sporadic fire.

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Result of Conflict

• 16,000 lives lost -- 97 of those due to
  hypothermia and accidents rather than military
  fire
• Indian base camp is at 3,700 meters and Pakistani
  base camp is at 2,700 m
• Aprox cost to India is 1 million per day and to
  Pakistan is aprox. 600,000 per day
• Discourse of despair (with some glimmers of hope)
• General V.R. Raghavan. Siachen Conflict Without
  End (2002)
• S. Ganguly. Conflict Unending (2001)

4
International Interest

• Expatriates led by Aamir Ali (Switzerland)
• Vermont meeting in October, 2003
• Sandia National Labs
• German governments interest in research and
  development
• Italian governments interest vis-a-vis K2
  (though strategically separate from Siachen)
• IUCN - Transfrontier Protected Areas Effort
• Southern African focusPeace Parks Foundation
• Didima declaration on the Drakensberg range
• Asian mountain initiative
• Environmental peace movements mixed media
  response to 2004 Nobel Peace Prize

5
Indigenous Interest

• Conservation and research (worlds largest
  non-polar glacier)
• Sanctuary Asia, Snow Leopard Trusts
• Peshawar Univ-NGS and IKSP collaboration
• Eco-tourism and mountaineering -- IIPT - Pakistan
  and India chapters
• Himalayan mountain clubs
• Adventure expeditions
• Memorializing the region -- an exit strategy?

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Overcoming S. Asian Challenges

• Transforming the militarys role
• Sovereignty and territoriality
• The Chinese question
• Visitor rights (Visa categories) -- Sharm-al
  Shaikh and HK-Macau examples
• Management plans

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Recent updates

• December 2004 meeting in Mumbai organized by
  Himalayan Club and Sanctuary Asia
• Proposal conveyed to Indian and Pakistani
  governments
• Siachen issue to be potentially discussed this
  spring as talks resume
• Automatic Weather Station in the Baltoro
  installed continuously functioning in Urdukas
  snow samples collected along the crest of K2 to
  be assessed for traces of long range pollutants
• Decision Support System in the Hindu Kush -
  Karakoram - Himalaya Region (DSS-HKKH), launched
  in Sagarmatha and being tested in Pakistans CKNP

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Recent updates continued

• Sandia National Labs Siachen demilitarization
  project
• NSF Funding for science for peace effort in
  Karakorams. Science article on Shroder and Bishop
  expedition (8/26/05)
• Italian government organizing the International
  Karakorum Conference - a dialogue between Science
  and Development (November 2005)
• Undergraduate intern spent summer of 2005 doing
  surveys of local support for the peace park in
  Kashmir
• Edited volume on Peace Parks being prepared to
  provide broader context for this initiative
• www.k2peacepark.org