India is allowing tourists to visit a remote glacier high in the Himalayas starting today, provoking a storm of protest from long-time rival Pakistan, which also claims the area known as the world's highest battleground.
The dispute could set back the already slow peace process between the two countries, as India shows to tourists and the world that it holds almost all of the disputed Siachen Glacier and the dominating heights around.
India and Pakistan have been to war three times and Siachen, occupied since 1984 by India, lies along the line dividing the territory held by each country in Kashmir, the mountainous state that is claimed by both countries.
Siachen, a white icy wilderness that descends from 6,100 metres (20,000 feet) and runs for 70 kilometres, is encircled by thousands of Indian and Pakistani troops. The world's coldest war zone in what many see as a pointless conflict, it remains a potential flashpoint between the two nuclear-armed nations.
About 5,000 lives have been lost at an estimated cost of $500-million a year to two countries that can ill afford such extravagance.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned an Indian diplomat this week to express its "deep concern" over news that a tour group was heading to the glacier from the Indian side.
"The Siachen area remains a conflict zone, and the reported move by India could aggravate the situation with serious consequences that may vitiate the peace process," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tasnim Aslam said.
The Indian side played down the strategic significance of their new plans for Siachen. Taking advantage of the end of the ceasefire there, India believes it can open the glacier and the surrounding peaks to trekking expeditions.
"This is a routine mountainous adventure activity which should not be viewed in any other way," said Defence Ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar. "The expedition will take place in an area which is ours."
The two armies haven't fought each other at Siachen since 2003, but each country has about 3,000 soldiers at the glacier, having to endure temperatures of minus 50, often with inadequate winter gear. The air is so thin that it is not possible for fit men to climb more than five metres before having to pause for breath. More troops have died from the cold and avalanches than enemy fire.
India holds the glacier itself, with Pakistani troops confined to a few surrounding points of high ground.
Retired general Hameed Gul, formerly head of Pakistan's feared ISI intelligence agency, said that Siachen is intrinsic to the whole dispute over the ownership of Kashmir.
"India is trying to take us for a ride," Mr. Gul said about the tourism plan. "Kashmir is a violation by India and Siachen is a violation within a violation."
Siachen may be a particularly emotional subject for Pakistan's President, General Pervez Musharraf, who led an unsuccessful raid to try to seize more of the glacier when he was an army commando. Then, in 1999, as head of the army, he masterminded a daring Pakistani campaign that occupied a high ridge near Kargil, in Indian-held Kashmir, and began shelling a road that the Indians used to supply troops at Siachen. The ensuing conflict at Kargil almost developed into a full-scale war between India and Pakistan.
Analysts have said that, if the two countries cannot solve a dispute over Siachen, a field of ice with little intrinsic value, then there is little chance of a settlement over Kashmir, which has been the overriding point of contention between India and Pakistan since they gained independence from Britain in 1947.
Indian officials said that the first such trek by 40 soldiers, cadets and civilians, including some journalists, would begin today.
Before 1984, Pakistan used to send expeditions to the Siachen region, which was not officially held by either country. Then, India got wind of Pakistan's plans to occupy the glacier and made sure its troops were already in position when the Pakistani army arrived.
Given the Kargil experience and the continuing lack of trust between India and Pakistan, neither side is willing to pull back from Siachen and return it to its unoccupied state.
There have been 11 rounds of India-Pakistan talks over Siachen, as well as backchannel contacts. India is unwilling to bring its troops down from the glacier until Pakistan officially recognizes the positions they hold. Pakistan has said it is willing to do so but on the condition that it is not a final endorsement of India's claim over the glacier.