Asia
Originally published on Thu April 19, 2012 3:44 pm
Photo by B.K. Bangash / AP
Pakistani army soldiers work Wednesday at the site of a massive avalanche that buried 140 people, including 129 soldiers, April 7 at the Siachen glacier. Pakistan's army chief called for the peaceful resolution of the Himalayan glacier dispute with rival nuclear power India.
Photo by Julie M. McCarthy / NPR
Pakistani army soldiers work Wednesday at the site of a massive avalanche that buried 140 people, including 129 soldiers, April 7 at the Siachen glacier.
Photo by Julie M. McCarthy / NPR
Pakistani soldiers work Wednesday at the site of an avalanche that buried 140 people, including 129 soldiers, April 7 on the Siachen glacier. The incident revived debate in Pakistan over the price of patrolling the frozen area in the Kashmir region along the Indian border.
Photo by B.K. Bangash / AP
Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, talks with reporters after visiting the avalanche site on the Siachen glacier Wednesday. Kayani has called for the peaceful resolution of the regional dispute with India.
In the chill of the world's highest combat zone lies the prospect of warmer relations. Pakistan's army chief said Wednesday that there's a need to resolve the conflict that has Indian and Pakistani troops facing off at frigid altitudes of up to 20,000 feet in the Himalayan Mountains. An estimated 3,000 Pakistani soldiers have died from the atrocious weather conditions since deployments on the Siachen glacier began in 1984.
Gen. Ashfaq Kayani conducted an aerial tour Wednesday with President Asif Ali Zardari of the massive landslide that buried a battalion of Pakistani soldiers in their headquarters on the glacier. In a rare encounter with reporters afterward, Kayani said the standoff is costly in many ways and called for "peaceful co-existence" with India.
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