Jammu, May 9: President Ram Nath Kovind will visit the Siachen base camp, world’s highest battlefield, on Thursday and interact with soldiers.
President Kovind, who is also the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, will be the first President to visit this camp since the visit of then President APJ Abdul Kalam in 2004.
According to Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President will also visit the Kumar post, located at 4,800 metres, from where supplies are dispatched to pickets on the Siachen Glacier. This is the second visit of President Kovind to the strategic Ladakh region that shares a vast border with China and Pakistan.
On August 21 last year, President Kovind had presented the President’s Colours to all five Ladakh Scouts Battalions and the Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre. He had dedicated his maiden visit to Ladakh, first outside Delhi since assuming office, to the armed forces.
On April 2, 2004, the late President Kalam had visited the Siachen Base Camp and had stressed its geo-political importance.
In his address to the soldiers, Kalam had said that the 75-km-long Siachen Glacier was of extreme geo-strategic importance to India. He had told the troops that there was a comprehensive security plan while having a diplomatic approach to peace.
He had said the technological tools to assist foot-patrolling in the extremely treacherous terrain should be improved and the procedure for airlifting victims of avalanches, frostbite and enemy fire toned up.
