India, Australia set on army expedition to scale Mount Shivling

A joint team of the armies of India and Australia on Wednesday set out on an expedition to scale the peak of Mount Shivling in the Himalayas.

New Delhi, Sept 6 : A joint team of the armies of India and Australia on Wednesday set out on an expedition to scale the peak of Mount Shivling in the Himalayas.

The expedition was flagged off by Major General V.K. Ahluwalia, Director General Military Training of Indian Army.

"We would like to foster good relations, further strengthen our relations and also share with them the experiences on mountaineering," Major General Ahluwalia told reporters here.

The expedition team includes nine members from the Australian army, 18 climbing members and nine support members of the Indian army.

Both Indian and Australian team leaders, Lieutenant Colonel M.S. Chauhan and Lieutenant Colonel Mathew David Rogerson have scaled heights of 8000 meters.

Most of the Australian team members had recently undergone an acclimatization package at Indian army's high altitude welfare school in northern Jammu and Kashmir.

The team is scheduled to leave for Uttarkashi on the Himalayan foothills and will reach Gangotri next day.

The team will make summit attempts between September 26 and October 1, 2007.

The last Indo-Australian mountaineering expedition was conducted in 1991 to Mount Kedarnath in Himalayas.

ANI