Indian and Argentine Armies Complete Joint Himalayan Expedition to Mt Abi Gamin and Mt Kamet

The Indian Army and the Argentine Army have completed their third joint mountaineering expedition, successfully scaling Mt Abi Gamin at 7,355 metres and Mt Kamet at 7,756 metres in September 2026.

The expedition team was formally received in New Delhi on October 6 by General Dhiraj Seth, Chief of the Army Staff, following the successful ascent of Mt Abi Gamin on September 17 and Mt Kamet on September 21, 2026.

35-Member Joint Expedition Team

The expedition consisted of 35 personnel, including 25 members of the Indian Army and 10 personnel from the Argentine Army. It was led by Lieutenant Colonel Chirag Chatterjee and had been flagged off from the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi on August 21, 2026.

The team operated in difficult Himalayan terrain marked by extreme cold, strong winds, snowfields, crevasses, steep rock sections and the physiological challenges associated with very high altitude.

Mt Kamet Among India’s Highest Peaks

Mt Kamet, located in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, rises to 7,756 metres and is the third-highest peak in India after Kanchenjunga and Nanda Devi.

The successful ascent of both Mt Abi Gamin and Mt Kamet required sustained acclimatisation, technical climbing skills, logistical coordination and close teamwork between personnel of the two armies.

Third Joint Mountaineering Venture

The 2026 expedition represents the third joint mountaineering venture between the Indian and Argentine Armies.

The partnership began with a joint expedition to Mt Aconcagua in Mendoza, Argentina, where personnel from both armies operated together in January 2025. A second expedition followed in August 2025 with the ascent of Mt Kun in the Suru Valley of Ladakh.

The latest Himalayan expedition extends that pattern of cooperation into progressively demanding high-altitude environments.

Military Cooperation Beyond Conventional Exercises

Joint mountaineering expeditions serve a wider professional purpose beyond adventure training. High-altitude operations test endurance, leadership, communication, medical preparedness, logistics and small-team coordination under difficult conditions.

For the Indian and Argentine Armies, repeated participation in such expeditions also creates opportunities to understand each other’s operating methods and build familiarity between personnel outside conventional military exercises.

This is particularly valuable because high-altitude mountaineering demands trust at the individual and team level, with climbers often relying on one another in conditions where terrain, weather and altitude can rapidly increase risk.

India-Argentina Defence Ties Gain Another Layer

The expedition adds a practical military dimension to the broader relationship between India and Argentina. Successive joint climbs have created a small but steadily growing platform for professional interaction between the two armies.

The completion of three expeditions across Argentina, Ladakh and Uttarakhand shows that the partnership has moved beyond a one-off symbolic engagement into a recurring programme of joint activity.

By combining military training with demanding mountain expeditions, India and Argentina are building familiarity, interoperability and personal bonds between their armed forces. The latest successful ascent of Mt Abi Gamin and Mt Kamet further strengthens that foundation for future defence cooperation.

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References

• Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Defence, Government of India, “COAS Flags In Joint Indo-Argentine Army Mountaineering Expedition in New Delhi”, October 6, 2026.

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