A Siachen peace park: The solution to a half-century of international conflict?

Mountains have traditionally been havens for people seeking peace and spiritual solace. Nowhere has this been truer than in the Himalaya, the “Abode of the Gods,” from time immemorial. It is ironic, then, that in the Himalaya (or, to be more exact, in the Karakoram), a bitter, deadly, heroic, and absurd conflict is being fought. For 18 long years, the armed forces of India and Pakistan have fought on the Saltoro Ridge, south of the Siachen Glacier—the highest battlefield in the world. The creation of a Peace Park may contribute to resolving this half-century-old international conflict and preserving a unique high mountain environment currently being subjected to irreparable devastation.