Chandigarh, Feb. 1: Delhi may propose pruning soldier strength at Siachen and even phased withdrawal during secretary-level talks with Pakistan later this month.

“We have intimated the government over the possibility of withdrawing some troops from the world’s highest battleground before the talks begin and, perhaps, a phased withdrawal later,” a senior Northern Command source said from Udhampur.

“In any case, the guns have fallen silent there after the ceasefire and there is no need for a major presence with the peace initiative now underway,” the source said, referring to the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

India moved onto the 20,700-ft high Siachen on April 13, 1984, for strategic reasons.

Maintaining a regular supply of men and material to the inhospitable terrain since then has been a drain on the army’s budget.

More than 10,000 soldiers are stationed in trenches on the glacier.

Nearly 20 tonnes of food, water, clothes and kerosene are airlifted daily from Chandigarh for them.

According to a rough estimate, over Rs 40,500 crore have been spent since 1984 to retain Siachen.

A loaf of bread, for instance, costs Rs 250 to be airlifted to the glacier, a source said.

“We have been losing a lot of men on the glacier. Most of them have succumbed to the harsh climate,” an officer said.

Inquiries at the Western Command at Chandimandir, near here, from where supplies are airlifted every day to the glacier, revealed that of the 81 jawans who died last year, 65 were claimed by the climate and the others by Pakistani bullets and shelling.

The harsh climate has also sent 300 jawans and 33 officers to hospital in Leh. They were never sent back to the glacier.

Sources said thousands of jawans have perished. But no statistics are available of the lives lost either to Pakistani shelling or the climate since 1984.

In late 2002, 50 soldiers died in an avalanche. Their bodies could be recovered only after a weeklong search. They have remained unsung.