Rajnath Singh to visit Siachen, the world's highest battlefield, to review the security situation; his first as Defence Minister

As Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh's first visit outside national capital would be to Siachen Glacier -- world's highest battlefield - to review security situation along borders with Pakistan. During visit, Defence Minister would be accompanied by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and or senior officials from Defence Ministry, government sources said.

At glacier, Rajnath Singh would be briefed about operations being conducted by Army, along with support of air effort by Indian Air Force.

Norrn Army Commander Lt General Ranbir Singh, 14 Corps Commander, and Kargil war hero Lt General YK Joshi are also expected to brief him about security situation in region.

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Indian Army has deployed a brige in area where some posts are located above altitude of 23,000 altitude which even poses difficulty in breathing.

During UPA-1 regime, re were calls for demilitarising glacier but Army h stressed on its importance. Indian Army has been maintaining Siachen Glacier since 1984 under Operation Meghdoot where Army soldiers doubled as mountaineers to reach peaks and capture m defeating Pakistan Army.

Defence Minister is also expected to visit nearby areas of Siachen Glacier.

Soon after taking over yesterday, Rajnath Singh asked officers-in-charge of different departments to prepare a detailed presentation for him on ongoing projects and programmes and brief him on m soon. officers have also been asked to complete projects in a time-bound manner to move effectively towards modernising armed forces.

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On Saturday, he was briefed about different projects and works being undertaken by Ministry and services by Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra and three services chiefs.