History was made in Switzerland this August when the Pakistan and Indian flags flew together on a mountain peak, possibly for the first time ever.

The event, branded a Summit for Co-operation and Peace, and organized jointly by the UIAA and the IUCN (World Conservation Union), was hosted in Switzerland by Roger Payne and Julie-Ann Clyma and timed to coincide with the World Summit in South Africa. While the bureaucrats argued it out in Jo-berg, the Summit climbing team were busy tackling peaks and climbs around Leysin and Grindlewald. The team consisted of five members: Nazir Sabir and Sher Khan are both well known Pakistani mountaineers and have both summited K2 as well as other 8000m peaks. Harish Kapadia from India, is the editor of the Himalayan Journal and an internationally recognized authority on the Himalaya. Mandip Singh Soin, also Indian, is a renowned adventurer and eco-tourism operator. And Jamie Andrew, mountaineer and quadruple amputee from Scotland, completed the team.

Both the Indian climbers and the Pakistanis were certain that this was the first time that mountaineers from their respective countries had ever climbed together. Over the course of the week, several climbs were completed including the Tour d’Ai via ferrata and Les Diablerets but the highlight was an ascent of The Monch, above Grindlewald, in celebration of the UNESCO designation of the Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn region as a World Heritage Site. During discussion of the difficulties faced by their respective countries, the climbers agreed that a similar arrangement could help solve part of the long-running border dispute between India and Pakistan. The uninhabited Siachen Glacier region has been an unofficial war zone between the two countries for over fifteen years, resulting in the waste of many thousand of lives and the pollution of one of the most beautiful mountain areas in the world.

Meanwhile not an inch of territory has been gained by either side. The creation of a Transboundary Protected Area for Peace and Co-operation would eliminate the need to define a boundary and would enable both countries to benefit from the promotion of the area as an ecological tourist venue. The team presented this idea to Adolf Ogi, special adviser to the UN Secretary-General, when they met him at a reception held after their ascent of The Monch, and Mr Ogi promised to deliver it to Kofi Annan and to spread their message of peace and co-operation through mountains and mountaineering.

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