Pakistan was first to see the potential of this strategically-important unoccupied area. However, it didn’t deploy troops till 1970 but used to send mountaineering expeditions to the glaciers.
In early 1981, Indian Army Col Narinder Bull Kumar sounded the alarm over Pakistan’s expeditions in the region. After that the army gave him permission to map the entire region.
Sensing Indian Army’s interest in the region, Pakistan Army planned a mission to occupy the area but was hit by an intelligence failure.
Pakistan had ordered mountaineering gears from a London company who was also a supplier to India. India got the information about Pakistan’s acquisitions. In April 1984, India urgently dispatched troops to Siachen under secret Operation Meghdoot. Indian troops reached the glacier a week earlier than Pakistan. By the time Pakistan soldiers reached the region, India had already got control of the glacier and the adjacent Saltoro ridge, using Col Kumar's maps. One of the key Indian installations in Siachen is named Kumar Base after him.