Everyone should experience thrill of mountain climbing: Kiren Rijiju

NEW DELHI: People should experience the "thrill" of mountaineering sometime in their lives, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said today as he flagged off a 25-member ITBP expedition squad to Uttarakhand's 7,242-metre high Mount 'Mukut' peak.

The Minister of State for Home said while the adventure sport is not so popular in India, it was "a way of life" for many people in the western countries.

While addressing men and officers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force at their headquarters here, he said mountain expedition was a "motivating" sport and it also builds the much required sense of camaraderie amongst not only the security forces but also in all those who undertake it.

Rijiju said people need to experience the thrill of mountaineering and it cannot be explained in words as he narrated his last year's experience of visiting high-altitude ITBP and SSB border posts.

That experience had been very satisfying, he said.

This is the first time that the mountain-warfare trained paramilitary will scale the 7,242-metre Mt Mukut.

ITBP Director General Krishna Chaudhary said mountain expedition is an important event in the forces' calendar and the force has conquered 201 peaks till now including the world's tallest peak Mount Everest.

The force, raised in 1962 in the aftermath of the Chinese aggression, is tasked to guard the 3,488-km Sino-India border.