Mountaineer Naila Kiani to be awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz

ISLAMABAD: In recognition of her achievement in successfully summiting the world’s highest peak Mount Everest, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday approved the conferment of civil award Sitara-i-Imtiaz on renowned mountaineer Naila Kiani.

Kiani Sunday summited Mount Everest — becoming the second Pakistani woman to raise the country’s flag at the world’s highest peak. Samina Baig was the first woman mountaineer from Pakistan to scale the mighty Everest in 2013. The Prime Minister’s Office issued a notification, containing the prime minister’s approval for the conferment of the award on the mountaineer. The PM Office has directed the cabinet secretary to complete all the formalities in this regard.

Earlier, the PM had announced to confer Sitara-i-Imtiaz on Kiani as she brought laurels to Pakistan, through her achievement.

It is pertinent to mention here that Kiani — just two days after summitting the world’s highest mountain Everest — Tuesday morning became the first Pakistani woman to summit six 8,000-meter mountains after she successfully scaled Mount Lhotse in Nepal. Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8,516 metres, after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga.