Siachen Glacier

Himalayan glacier at an altitude of 5,236 m/17,000 ft in the Karakoram Mountains of north Kashmir. Occupied by Indian forces 1984, the glacier has been the focal point of a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan since independence in 1947.

Three wars in 1947, 1965, and 1971 resulted in the establishment of a temporary boundary between the two countries through the province of Jammu and Kashmir, but the accords failed to define a frontier in the farthest reaches of north Kashmir. Pakistan responded to the 1984 Indian action by sending troops to the heights of the nearby Baltoro Glacier.