Photos: 15,000 feet, -40 degrees
The ITBP guards the 3,488 km border between the Karakoram Pass in Ladakh and Jachep La in Arunachal
New Delhi:
As the country celebrated the 73rd Republic Day with a grand parade and flypast in the nation’s capital’s Rajpath, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel guarding the country’s snowy remote borders stood attached to them.
At 15,000 feet, -40 degrees in Ladakh
Paramilitary troops stationed in high altitude areas of Uttarakhand, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh braved well below freezing temperatures to sing the national anthem and wave patriotic slogans to mark the special day.
At 17,500 feet at -30 degrees in Ladakh
At 15,000 feet in Ladakh and the temperature hovering around minus 40 degrees Celsius, ITBP personnel unfurled the national flag at various Himalayan peaks where they are stationed to secure the Indo-China border.
At 15,000 feet at -40 degrees in Ladakh
In visuals shared on social media by the paramilitary force, personnel, also known as ‘Himveers’, are seen dressed in their white gear. “Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel known as Himveers celebrating Republic Day at 15,000 feet in minus 40 degrees Celsius temperature at the icy borders of Ladakh,” the ITBP said. .
The Border Force also celebrated Republic Day at 16,000ft in Himachal Pradesh and 12,000ft in the Kumaon area of Uttarakhand.
The ITBP, a specialist mountain force with a majority of officers trained in mountaineering, guards the 3,488 km border between the Karakoram Pass in Ladakh and Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh.