Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh formally flagged off mountaineering expeditions to Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro. The event for the same was organised in South Block, New Delhi, on Thursday.
The expedition to Mount Everest was conducted to commemorate 60 glorious years of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand. It was organised in collaboration with the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), Darjeeling, West Bengal, and Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering & Winter Sports (JIM&WS), Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir.
The expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa's highest peak) was organised by HMI and undertaken by a team comprising a Divyangjan member, Uday Kumar, with a 91 per cent above-knee amputation. The Defence Secretary commended both teams' unwavering spirit, tenacity, and bravery in his speech, emphasising that their missions represented India's leadership in adventure sports and its capabilities as a mountaineer.
By successfully summiting Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro, teams have set new benchmarks to inspire young mountaineers across the country and the world at large, he said.
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Defence Secretary added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always emphasised the importance of youth empowerment, self-reliance, and adventure as a source of building a strong, resilient, and fearless India. The expedition to Mount Everest was led by Principal, NIM Col. Anshuman Bhadauria.
The other team members were Col. Hem Chandra Singh (Deputy Leader) and instructors from the three institutes, Rakesh Singh Rana, Sub. Bahadur Pahan, Hav. Rajendra Mukhiya, Nk. Thupstan Tsewang and Pasang Tenzing Sherpa, Defence Ministry, said in a release.
On May 23, 2025, the team successfully ascended the Khumbu Valley to the summit of Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world. According to the statement, the expedition's goal was to give instructors firsthand experience on Everest so they could better motivate and instruct upcoming generations of mountaineers.
In the meantime, Group Captain Jai Kishan, Principal of HMI, Darjeeling, led the Mount Kilimanjaro expedition. Sulaxchana Tamang, Pawel Sharma, Captain Shruti, and Subedar Mahendra Kumar Yadav were on the team. The team set a world record on August 8, 2024, when they raised the biggest national flag atop Mount Kilimanjaro.
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