ITBP personnel celebrate Republic Day at 17,000 feet in Ladakh

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel celebrated the 71st Republic Day at 17,000 feet in Ladakh, trudging though snow.

The temperature in Ladakh at present is minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Video footage showed 'Himveers' dressed in white uniforms and chanting slogans of - Bharat Mata ki Jai and Vande Mataram as the tricolour flies high. Two of the soldiers were seen holding the tricolour as they marched in the snow.

"#Himveers of #ITBP salute the Nation on #RepublicDay2020 #RepublicDayIndia Pictures from Ladakh at 17 K ft," ITBP tweeted.

A total of 15 ITBP personnel have been conferred with medals on Republic Day.

ITBPF was raised on October 24, 1962. Presently, ITBP is deployed on border guarding duties from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh covering 3488 km of Indo-China Border and manning Border Outposts on altitudes ranging from 9000' to 18700' in the Western, Middle and Eastern sectors of the Indo-China Border.

It is a specialized mountain force and most of the officers and men are professionally trained mountaineers and skiers. Being the first responder for natural disaster, the force has been carrying out numerous rescue and relief operations across the country.