General Dhiraj Seth, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), flagged in members of the Joint Indo-Argentine Army Mountaineering Expedition in New Delhi, following their successful ascent of Mt Abi Gamin (7,355 metres) on 17 September and Mt Kamet (7,756 metres) on 21 September 2026. Mt Kamet located in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand is the third-highest peak in India after Mt Kanchenjunga and Mt Nanda Devi.
The 35-member expedition, led by Lieutenant Colonel Chirag Chatterjee, comprising 25 personnel of the Indian Army and 10 personnel of the Argentine Army was flagged off from the Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi, on 21 August 2026. Operating in demanding Himalayan conditions, the mountaineers negotiated extreme cold, high winds, snowfields, steep rock sections, crevasses and other challenges of high-altitude terrain to summit both peaks. The achievement reflects their physical endurance, technical proficiency, mental resilience and close coordination.
The expedition is the third joint mountaineering venture between the two Armies, following earlier two expeditions to Mt Aconcagua (6,962 metres) in Mendoza, Argentina, in January 2025 and Mt Kun (7,077 metres) in the Suru Valley, Ladakh, in August 2025.
These successive expeditions have strengthened professional cooperation, interoperability, camaraderie and mutual trust between the Indian and Argentine Armies, while providing the valuable experience of operating together in demanding high-altitude environments.
