Murukesh Krishnan
The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), India’s paramilitary force
that guards the Indo-Nepal and Bhutan borders, today set-off to conquer Mount
Everest by sending a 10-member squad, the first for a military force in India.
The SSB, established in 1963, is celebrating its golden jubilee this year.
The climbers are equipped with state-of-the-art
mountaineering gadgets and have been training extensively over the past few
months at domestic peaks across the country. The team, led by Squad Commander
and SSB Commandant Somit Joshi, will be scaling from the Nepalese side of the
mountain and are expected to reach the summit by mid-May.
Union Home Secretary RK Singh flagged off the event at New
Delhi amidst huge fanfare and wished the contingent luck for their conquest.
SSB Chief Arun Chaudhary was
also present on the occasion. He claimed that the sole motive of this
expedition was to bring in a spirit of adventure amongst paramilitary
personnel. The team will hoist the national flag at the peak.
It was,
however, the second attempt on Mt. Everest by an Indian military force as a
23-member team from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) scaled the Everest
last year on May 19, by skiing down the summit from the Chinese side.
