Capt M S Kohli, who led India's first successful Everest expedition, dies

Captain Manmohan Singh Kohli (retd), renowned Indian Navy officer and legendary mountaineer who led India’s first successful Everest expedition in 1965, passed away in New Delhi on June 23 at the age of 93.

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Known for his daring leadership during a covert Indo-US mission in 1965 to place a nuclear-powered spying device on Nanda Devi in Uttarakhand to monitor Chinese nuclear activity, Capt Kohli led India’s first successful Everest Expedition in 1965.

“Regret to inform the sad demise of Capt MS Kohli (retd) on June 23 at New Delhi,” The Navy said.

Capt Kohli’s covert operation on Nanda Devi has roots in the early 1960’s when China conducted its first nuclear test near Lake Lop Nur in the Xinjiang province. At that time, Cold War hysteria was at its peak. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reached out to the Indian Intelligence Bureau for help in spying on Chinese nuclear tests and missile firings.

Born December 11, 1930, in Haripur (now Pakistan), Kohli authored a book ‘Spies in the Himalayas’, and in which he described Nanda Devi as offering a vantage point with an unfettered view across Chinese-occupied Tibet. Meanwhile the Indian Navy said Capt Kohli was commissioned in the Indian Navy in 1954 and retired in 1974.