Captain Shiva Chauhan becomes the first women officer to be operationally deployed in Siachen

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Fire and Fury Corps officer Captain Shiva Chauhan became the first woman officer to be operationally deployed at the highest battleground in Kumar Post on the Siachen glacier.

This information was tweeted by the official account of the Fire and Fury Corps of the Indian Army.

Ms Shiva had to undergo arduous training before her posting in Kumar Post.

Siachen Glacier 

The Siachen glacier lies in the Karakoram Range .It is 75 km (47 miles) long, which makes it the second longest nonpolar glacier in the world, after Fedchenko Glacier in Tajikistan.

Strategic Significance of Siachen Glacier 

The Siachen Glacier is the highest battleground on earth, where India and Pakistan have fought intermittently since 1984. The Glacier is of strategic significance for India namely;

• The Glacier guards the routes which lead to Leh, the capital of Ladakh.
• Secondly the Saltoro Ridge overlooks the area of Gilgit–Baltistan of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. 
•  Thirdly, it overlooks and dominates the Shaksgam Valley, which was illegally ceded to China by Pakistan.
• Fourthly, it is close to the Karakoram Pass through which the Karakoram Highway passes connecting Gilgit-Baltistan to Xinjiang Province of China.

Due to its strategic significance both countries maintain a permanent military presence in the region at a height of over 6,000 metres (20,000 feet).

 More than 2,000 soldiers have died in this inhospitable terrain, mostly due to weather extremes and the natural hazards of mountain warfare.

Operation Meghdoot 

Operation Meghdoot was launched by the Indian Armed Forces to take control of Siachen Glacier on the morning of April 13, 1984 before the Pakistani army did so.

At that time Siachen Glacier was in the State of Jammu and Kashmir but presently it is in the Union Territory of Ladakh.