A native mountaineering guide Kami Rita ascends the world’s highest peak for the second time in just a week.

A Nepalese Sherpa climber, Kami Rita, has scaled the Mount Everest for a 24th time, the second such feat in just a week after breaking his own record for the most successful ascents of the world’s highest peak.

The 49-year-old, who is a native of Thame village located in the shadow of Mount Everest, reached the 8,848-metre peak via the Southeast Ridge route on Tuesday, tourism department official Mira Acharya said.

Acharya said Rita, who goes by his first name Kami, said he wanted to climb the mountain one more time.

“I am still strong and want to climb Sagarmatha 25 times,” Kami had told Reuters news agency before leaving for his 23rd climb last week, referring to the Nepali name for the Everest.

‘Like a soldier’

Rita first scaled the Everest in 1994 and has been making the trip nearly every year since, one of many Sherpa guides whose expertise and skills are vital to the safety and success of the hundreds of climbers who head to Nepal each year seeking to stand on top of the world.

His father was among the first Sherpa guides employed to help climbers reach the summit and Rita followed in his footsteps and then some.

In addition to his nearly two dozen summits of Everest, Rita has scaled several other peaks that are among the world’s highest, including K-2, Cho-Oyu, Manaslu and Lhotse.

Rita was at Everest’s base camp in 2015 when an avalanche swept through, killing 19 people.

After that tragedy, he came under intense family pressure to quit mountaineering altogether, but in the end, decided against it.

The route was pioneered by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and remains the most popular snow trail leading to the highest point on the Earth.

Nearly 5,000 climbers have scaled the peak since the pioneering ascent, many multiple times.

Two other climbers, both Sherpas, have scaled Everest 21 times each. They have both retired from mountaineering.

The climbing season ends in May and hundreds of climbers are currently on the Everest, trying to reach the top from both the Nepali and Tibetan sides of the mountain.

Tourism, which includes mountain climbing, is the main source of income for cash-strapped Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains.

Agencies

The Imran Khan-led Pakistan government is actively considering appointing a National Security Advisor to revive backchannel diplomacy with India to iron out issues hindering the resumption of peace talks between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, official sources said on Sunday.

Since assuming the office in August last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan repeatedly reached out to India for the resumption of peace talks on all outstanding issues. 

But India has made it clear to Pakistan that terrorism and dialogue will not go hand-in-hand.

The likely appointment of the NSA is meant for reviving the backchannel diplomacy with India to sort out some of the pressing issues between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, the official sources privy to the development was quoted as saying by the Express Tribune.

A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the government was likely to appoint a retired military official as the National Security Advisor (NSA). 

He said certain names were under consideration but no final decision has been taken yet.

The relationship between the two neighbouring nations currently is at all-time low after a Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber attacked a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14 that killed 40 soldiers. 

Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting what it said was a JeM training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26.

The next day, the PAF retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in aerial combat and captured IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was later released and handed over to India on March 1. 

Now, with the almost two-month-long election exercise getting over, the Pakistan government is considering options on how to resume talks with India.

Pakistan believes that the new government in India after the general elections would be more receptive to Khan’s offer of peace talks.

When asked about the prospects of resumption of talks given the current hostilities, the official said Pakistan was optimistic. 

The reason for this optimism stems from the fact that new government, whether it is formed by the ruling BJP or the Congress, is unlikely to follow the pre-election rhetoric, he said.

One of the options includes the appointment of the NSA to revive the backchannel with India. 

In the past, the two countries often used backchannel through the NSAs to prepare ground for any talks.

In 2015, Pakistan’s NSA Lt General (retd) Naseer Khan Janjua and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval were instrumental in breaking the ice. 

The two held meetings in Bangkok leading to the agreement between the two foreign ministers for the resumption of the composite dialogue.

The leadership of the two countries used their respective NSAs to communicate on important issues.

Talking to foreign journalists last month, Khan had said that there might be a better chance of peace talks with India if Modi returned to power.

“If the next Indian government is led by the opposition Congress party, it might be too scared to seek a settlement with Pakistan over Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), fearing a backlash from the right,” the prime minister told a small group of foreign journalists in an interview.

“Perhaps if the BJP a right-wing party wins, some kind of settlement on Kashmir could be reached.”

Khan’s statement stirred a heated debate both in Pakistan as well as in India, where Modi’s opponents mocked him as Pakistan’s ally.

In Pakistan, opposition parties criticised Khan for making an ‘undiplomatic statement’ and also supporting Modi despite his hostile policies. 

Agencies

As US military warships sailed near the disputed islands in the South China Sea, China hit back at the US asserting that it should “immediately stop provocative actions” as relations between the two nations continued to remain on the boil.

“We strongly urge the United States to immediately stop such provocative actions so as not to undermine Sino-US relations and regional peace and stability,” China’s foreign ministry spokesman said,adding,”China will continue to do what it needs to protect its national sovereignty and security and uphold the peace and stability of the South China Sea.” 

A US warship had sailed across the Scarborough Shoal claimed by Chinain the South China Sea on Sunday amid heightened tensions in the area. The US destroyer Preble had carried out the operation.

A fortnight ago the US military had sent two destroyers –  Preble and Chung Hoon – within 12 nautical miles of Gaven and Johnson Reefs in the Spratly Islands.

China claims all the islands in the South China Sea, however, it is also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the warship had entered waters near the shoal without China’s position and the Chinese navy had warned it to leave.

The United States is trying to disturb regional peace and stability by using the issue of freedom of navigation and flight, he added.

Earlier in the month, a US destroyer had conducted drills with a Japanese aircraft carrier along with two Indian naval ships and a Philippine patrol vessel in the waterways in the South China Sea.

Japan sent one of its two big aircraft carriers, the Izumo, while India deployed a destroyer, the INS Kolkata, and a tanker, the INS Shakti.

The US navy advocates freedom of navigation to freely move warships in the region, a move disputed by China. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea, including on the Spratlys.

Agencies