President Droupadi Murmu became the first Indian woman President and the third overall to visit the Siachen base camp on Thursday. She addressed the army’s forward-deployed soldiers and praised their bravery, commitment, and dedication while serving and defending the world’s coldest and highest battleground. The base camp is the gateway to the Siachen glacier, a 76-km river of slow-moving ice.
The Siachen glacier is at a height of around 20,000 feet in the eastern Karakoram Mountain range in the Himalayas, northeast of the point NJ9842, where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends. It is known as the highest militarised zone in the world, where soldiers have to battle extreme cold, high winds and frostbite, among other severe weather conditions.
President Droupadi Murmu visited Siachen Base Camp and addressed the soldiers posted there. The President said that as the supreme commander of the armed forces, she felt very proud of them and that all citizens salute their bravery. pic.twitter.com/SFsaTYEQji
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) September 26, 2024
Addressing the soldiers at the base camp, the President, who was in battle fatigues, said, “Since the commencement of Operation Meghdoot, the brave soldiers and officers of the Indian armed forces have ensured the security of this region. They face severe weather conditions. In difficult situations like heavy snowfall and minus 50 degrees temperature, they remain deployed at the front with full devotion and vigilance.”
Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi accompanied the President, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. “The soldiers present an extraordinary example of sacrifice in protecting the motherland,” she added. Murmu paid tribute at the Siachen war memorial that honours the sacrifices of soldiers and officers killed in action since the army launched Operation Meghdoot.
She told soldiers that all Indians are aware of their sacrifice and bravery and “we respect them”, according to a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Murmu is the country’s third president to have visited Siachen base camp, located in the Union Territory of Ladakh, the others being A P J Abdul Kalam and Ram Nath Kovind. While Kalam visited in April 2004, Kovind went to the base camp in May 2018.
Team BharatShakti
