The HMI building in Darjeeling. (Suman Tamang)

Darjeeling, Sept. 29: The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) has become a member of the global body governing mountaineering, paving the way for the Darjeeling-based institute to play an international role in framing rules and policies on climbing.

The Delhi-based Indian Mountaineering Federation is already a member of the Switzerland-headquartered Union Internationale Des Association D’Alpinisme (UIAA), also known as the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation.

“The HMI has been made a member after the UIAA reviewed its track record,” said Col. Neeraj Rana, the principal of the HMI. Rana had applied for the membership one and a half years ago.

The HMI has also been given voting rights, which means it can play a pivotal role in framing international rules and policies on mountaineering.

The UIAA lays down training standards to be followed worldwide. It recommends mountaineering equipment and certifies them as safe. It sends experts to member federations to check whether basic guidelines are being followed. New climbing techniques have to be approved by the UIAA.

Certificates issued by the HMI for its basic and advanced courses will be recognised across the world, now that it has become a member of the UIAA.

“So far, we have trained 1,600 foreigners, though we were not sure whether our certificates would be accepted internationally. We will no longer have to worry about recognition as our certificates will now have the UIAA logo,” Rana said.

Tenzing was the director of the institute since its formation in 1954 till he died in 1986. The HMI was set up by Jawaharlal Nehru a year after Tenzing and Edmund Hillary became the first to scale Mount Everest on May 29, 1953.

More international students and professionals are expected to come to HMI as a result of the recognition.

“As part of an exchange programme with the UIAA, professionals from abroad will impart training at our institution. Our teachers and students can also go to foreign institutes,” said Rana, before leaving for Italy to give a presentation on the HMI at a conference organised by the UIAA.