India and the fight for the Rose Garden

On 7 April, 120 Pakistani soldiers perished after an avalanche hit their base at Gayari near the Siachen glacier. On a visit to the area, Pakistan’s army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, pointed to the futility of occupying those forbidding heights. Soon enough, liberal opinion in both countries latched on his statement and mounted pressure to “demilitarize” that area. Next month, India and Pakistan are to hold talks on the subject. In the meantime, Islamabad has postponed discussions on another contentious subject—the Sir Creek dispute (on the Kutch-Sindh border between the two countries). Siachen—or the Rose Garden, as it is known locally—many expect is a “doable” idea. It hardly is.

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