Siachen to be Rajnath's 1st visit as Defence Minister

As Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh's first visit outside the national capital would be to the Siachen Glacier-- the world's highest battlefield - to review the security situation along the borders with Pakistan on Monday.

During the visit, the defence minister would be accompanied by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and other senior officials from the defence ministry, government sources said.

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

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

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

During the United Progressive Alliance-1 regime, there were calls for demilitarising the glacier but the army had put its foot down against the step. The Indian Army has been maintaining the Siachen Glacier since 1984 under the Operation Meghdoot where the army soldiers doubled as mountaineers to reach the peaks and capture them defeating the Pakistan army.

The defence minister is also expected to visit the nearby areas of the Siachen Glacier.

Soon after taking over on Saturday, Rajnath Singh asked the officers-in-charge of different departments to prepare a detailed presentation for him on the ongoing projects and programmes and brief him on them soon.

The officers have also been asked to complete the projects in a time-bound manner to move effectively towards modernising the armed forces.

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