Rajnath to stay at border outpost in Himalayas overnight; becomes 1st HM to do so

Leh, Sep 22: Bad weather today forced Rajnath Singh to abandon his helicopter and take a road trip to Dungti, some 200 kms from here on the icy heights of Himalayas, for a night halt at a border outpost, the first by a Union Home Minister.

Singh, on a three-day visit to border areas of Jammu and Kashmir, decided to drive down to the Dungti border post in Demchok at a height of 13,648 feet above sea level, after low lying clouds made flying impossible.

Demchok has seen repeated incursions by Chinese People's Liberation Army last year, including the one that led to a face-off with the Indian Army at Charding-Nilu Nullah Junction (CNNJ).

The PLA had entered the area on vehicles in the wee hours claiming it to be Chinese territory. Accompanied by senior officials, including Director General of ITBP Krishna Chaudhary, the Home Minister will spend the night with officers and jawans of the border guarding force for a first hand feel of conditions they work in.

Tomorrow, the Home Minister will address a 'Sainik Sammelan' after inaugurating an officers' hut at the outpost.

The Indo-Tibet Border Police, which is under the control of Home Ministry, is the designated force to man 4,056 km-long Line of Actual Control stretching from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.

This area was important during the 1962 Sino-India war as an entire army brigade received supplies from here.

PTI