Satellite-enabled telemedicine nodes would improve communication lines with forces deployed in remote and isolated parts of the country

For several months in a year, several Indian Army outposts in the unforgiving Siachen glacier are cut off from not just vital supply lines but also devoid of crucial medical aid. All of that may soon change with Indian Space Research Organisation coming to the rescue of heroes who brave the country's icy frontier.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Friday between Development and Education Communication Unit (DECU) of ISRO, Department of Space, Ahmedabad and Headquarters, Integrated Defence Staff (Medical), Ministry of Defence (MoD).

News agency ANI reported that as per the MoU, a number of Telemedicine nodes would be established - 53 in the first phase. These would help the Indian Air Force, Navy and Army for medical consultations between soldiers in frontier posts - like Siachen - and medical bases in rearward positions.

Satellite-enabled telemedicine nodes would improve communication lines with forces deployed in remote and isolated parts of the country and could well turn out to be a life-saver.

The significance of these telemedicine nodes is likely to be felt most in Siachen, the highest battleground in the world where choppers are the only mode of evacuation. Security and strategy experts have long maintained that weather conditions are the biggest enemy in Siachen but the Indian Army may now be better equipped to tackle the formidable adversary.