Chief of the Army Staff General Dhiraj Seth flagged in members of the joint Indo-Argentine Army Mountaineering Expedition in New Delhi after the team successfully scaled two major Himalayan peaks in September.
The 35-member expedition, led by Lieutenant Colonel Chirag Chatterjee, successfully climbed Mt Abi Gamin, at 7,355 metres, on September 17, followed by Mt Kamet, at 7,756 metres, on September 21, 2026.
Mt Kamet, located in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, is the third-highest peak in India after Mt Kanchenjunga and Mt Nanda Devi.
The expedition comprised 25 Indian Army personnel and 10 members of the Argentine Army. It was flagged off from the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi on August 21.
The mountaineers operated in challenging Himalayan conditions, facing freezing temperatures, strong winds, snow-covered terrain, steep rock sections and crevasses during their ascent. Successfully reaching both summits demonstrated the team’s physical endurance, technical mountaineering skills, mental resilience and ability to operate as a coordinated unit.
The latest expedition marks the third joint mountaineering venture between the Indian and Argentine Armies. The two forces earlier undertook an expedition to Mt Aconcagua in Mendoza, Argentina, in January 2025, followed by a climb of Mt Kun in the Suru Valley of Ladakh in August 2025.
The successive expeditions have provided personnel from both armies with opportunities to train and operate together in demanding high-altitude environments. They have also contributed to strengthening professional cooperation, interoperability, camaraderie and mutual trust between the two forces.
The successful completion of the latest expedition further highlights the growing engagement between India and Argentina in specialised military activities and high-altitude mountaineering.
