Bilafond La (meaning "Pass of the Butterflies" in

Balti language Balti ( Nastaʿlīq script: , Tibetan script: སྦལ་ཏི།, ) is a Tibetic language natively spoken by the ethnic Balti people in the Baltistan region of Gilgit−Baltistan, Pakistan, Nubra Valley of the Leh district and in the K ...

, also known as the Saltoro Pass, is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migr ...

situated on

Saltoro Ridge The Saltoro Mountains are a subrange of the Karakoram Range. They are located in the southeast Karakoram on the southwest side of the Siachen Glacier, one of the two longest glaciers outside the polar regions. The name given to this range is sh ...

, sitting immediately west of the vast

Siachen Glacier The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas at about , just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends. At long, it is the longest glacier in the Kara ...

, some directly north of map point NJ 980420 which defined the end of the 1972 Line of Control between

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

as part of the

Simla Agreement The Simla Agreement, also spelled Shimla Agreement, was a peace treaty signed between India and Pakistan on 2 July 1972 in Shimla, the capital city of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It followed the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which ...

. Bilafond La is on the ancient Silk Route linking the Indian Subcontinent and China. Bilafond La was a prominent feature during the 1984 start of military action in the

Siachen Conflict The Siachen conflict, sometimes referred to as the Siachen Glacier conflict or the Siachen War, was a military conflict between India and Pakistan over the disputed Siachen Glacier region in Kashmir. The conflict was started in 1984 by India' ...

between India and Pakistan. The

Indian Army The Indian Army is the Land warfare, land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Arm ...

captured the pass in 1984 along with

Sia La Sia La is a mountain pass situated on Saltoro Ridge, in Ladakh, India, some north-northwest of map point NJ9842 which defined the end of the 1972 Line of Control between India and Pakistan as part of the Simla Agreement. Sia La sits near t ...

to the north and, in 1987, Gyong La to the south. India currently maintains a fortified military base at Bilafond La.

Geopolitical issues

Bilafond Pass, as well as nearby passes

and Gyong La, were scenes of military activity starting in 1984 during

Operation Meghdoot Operation Meghdoot ( "Operation Cloud Messenger" after a famous Sanskrit poem by Kalidasa) was the codename for the Indian Armed Forces' operation to seize control of the Siachen Glacier in Kashmir, precipitating the Siachen conflict. E ...

, part of the

, itself being part of the larger

Kashmir Conflict The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, with China playing a third-party role. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claimed ...

. Due to the strategic location of the pass west of the

and near the current

Actual Ground Position Line The Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) divides current positions of Indian and Pakistani military posts and troops across the entire long front line in the disputed region of Siachen Glacier. AGPL generally runs along the Saltoro Mountains ra ...

between India and Pakistan, the

maintains a presence to defend their position.See http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2304/stories/20060310001704400.htm for a detailed, current map.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Siachen Peace Park
Mountain passes of Ladakh Mountain passes of India Mountain passes of the Himalayas Mountain passes of the Karakoram {{India-geo-stub

Geopolitical issues

See also

Notes

References

External links