NJ9842

Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
300km
200miles
NJ9842
NJ9842
NJ9842

NJ9842, also called NJ 980420 (in full: NJ 38 98000, 13 42000, yard based Indian Grid Coordinates),[a] is the northernmost demarcated point of the India-Pakistan cease fire line in Kashmir known as the Line of Control (LoC).[2] The India–Pakistan AGPL (Actual Ground Position Line), begins from the NJ9842 on LoC and ends near the Indira Ridge at the trijunction of areas controlled by China, India, and Pakistan.[3][4]

Delineation

As part of the Simla Agreement signed on 2 July 1972, prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto agreed that "the line of control resulting from the ceasefire of 17 December 1971, shall be respected by both sides without prejudice to the recognised position of either side".[5][6][7]

In November–December 1972, the military delegations of the two sides met in Suchetgarh to delineate the Line of Control. After delineation, signed maps were exchanged by the two sides and submitted to the respective governments for ratification.[8] Scholar Brian Cloughley remarked that the delineation represented remarkable territorial precision. However, it terminated at the grid reference NJ9842, leaving undelimited roughly 60 to 75 km to the border with China.[9]

Location

1954 US Army map of the area; The grid 38 90000, 13 40000 is the fifth square in the bottom row.

The point NJ9842 is on the Saltoro Mountain Range, at the top of the Chalunka Lungpa valley that runs north from the village of Chalunka. The immediate south of the point is occupied by the Korisa Glacier, the source of the Chalunka Lungpa stream which flows into the Shyok River. To the southeast of NJ9842 is the Urdolep or Waris Glacier, which forms the source of the Waris Lungpa stream.

To the north of the point are the Chulung Glacier, which is the source of the Dansam River (one of the feeder rivers of the Saltoro River), and the Gyong Glacier, which generates a tributary stream called Gyong, all in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The prevailing line of control, called the Actual Ground Position Line, runs northeast from NJ9842 for about 10 km, approximately along the water-parting line of the two sets of glaciers. Afterwards, it runs north roughly along the watershed line of the Saltoro ridge, which divides the waters of the tributaries of the Shyok River that flow into Pakistan-administered Kashmir from those that flow into the Nubra river and tributaries in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Even though several authors identify the point Khor of the 1949 cease-fire line with NJ9842,[10] the two points are quite different. Khor is further south, in the grid 39 00000, 13 20000 of Indian grid coordinates, closer to the Shyok River valley. The move up from Khor to NJ9842 in 1972 represented in part the territory gained by India in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[b]

AGPL

AGPL runs along the Saltoro Mountains Range from Point NJ9842 on the India-Pakistan LoC to near La Yongma Ri, Gyong La, Gyong Kangri, Chumik Kangri, Bilafond La (pass) and nearby Bana Post, Saltoro Kangri, Ghent Kangri, and Sia La to the India–Pakistan–China trijunction northwest of Indira Col West on the Sino-Indian LAC.[11][12] The peaks and passes under Pakistan's control such as Gayari Camp, Chogolisa, Baltoro Glacier, Conway Saddle,[12] Baltoro Muztagh, and Gasherbrum lie west of the AGPL.[13][12]

See also

Near the AGPL (Actual Ground Position Line)
Borders
Conflicts
Operations
Books
  • Beyond NJ 9842: The Siachen Saga
  • Meghdoot : The Beginning of the Coldest War
Other related topics

Notes

  1. ^ NJ refers to the Survey of India sheet that covers the region. The first two digits "38" and "13" are inferred from the sheet, and the remaining digits delineate the precise location.[1]
  2. ^ The villages of Chalunka, Turtuk, Tyakshi and Dhothang in the Chorbat Valley.

References

  1. ^ Deep Pradhan, Indian Grid System, retrieved 21 October 2021.
  2. ^ Hussain, Javed (22 April 2012). "The fight for Siachen". The Express Tribune.
  3. ^ Kapadia, Harish (1999). Across Peaks & Passes in Ladakh, Zanskar & East Karakoram. New Delhi, India: Indus Publishing Company. pp. 94, 185–87. ISBN 81-7387-100-0.
  4. ^ "Pakistan: Signing with the Red Chinese". Time (magazine). 15 March 1963. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Simla Agreement". Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
  6. ^ "Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan". Embassy of India, Washington, DC. Archived from the original on 11 November 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  7. ^ Krishna Rao, K. V. (1991), Prepare or Perish: A Study of National Security, Lancer Publishers, p. 472, ISBN 978-81-7212-001-6
  8. ^ Asian Recorder (1990), "Annexure VII: Asian Recorder, 1–7, Jan. 1973 (SUMMARY: Delineation Maps Exchanged with Pakistan)", in Jasjit Singh (ed.), India and Pakistan: Crisis of Relationship, Lancer Publishers, pp. 185–189, ISBN 978-81-7062-118-8
  9. ^ Cloughley, Brian (2016), A History of the Pakistan Army: Wars and Insurrections, Carrel Books, Chapter 10, ISBN 978-1-63144-039-7
  10. ^ See, for example, Wirsing, Robert G. (1998), "War or Peace on the Line of Control?", in Clive Schofield (ed.), Boundary and Territory Briefing, Volume 2, Number 5, pp. 9–10, ISBN 1-897643-31-4
  11. ^ "Manning the Siachen Glacier". Bharat Rakshak Monitor. 2003. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  12. ^ a b c R Baghela and M Nüsserab, 2015, Securing the heights: The vertical dimension of the Siachen conflict between India and Pakistan in the Eastern Karakoram, Political Geography (journal), Volume 48, Pages 24–36.
  13. ^ "Manning the Siachen Glacier". Bharat Rakshak Monitor. 2003. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2011.

Further reading

35°00′30″N 77°00′32″E / 35.008371°N 77.008805°E / 35.008371; 77.008805