ITBP: The Himveers
By Kartik Lokhande Valour, Steadfastness, and Commitment. These three words form the motto of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), a specialised mountain force guarding the most arduous of the borders of India. And, after 53 years, the ITBP has lived up to this motto and has evolved in one of the best-trained force. Raised on October 24, 1962, ITBP with four Battalions in the wake of Chinese aggression, the force was given the task of guerilla warfare, frontier intelligence and security along the Indo-Tibetan border. Presently, ITBP Battalions are deployed on border guarding duties from Karakoram Pass (between Siachen Glacier and Aksai Chin) at an altitude of over 18,000 feet in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh, covering 3,488 KM of Indo-China border, manning Border Out Posts. As its personnel guard at these towering heights in extreme cold, they have earned the sobriquet of ‘the Himveers’. Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister presenting colours to ITBP on June ...