New Delhi, June 4 (IANS) A 16-year-old school boy, who created history by becoming the youngest Indian to climb Mt. Everest, met Indian Army chief Gen. V.K. Singh and expressed his desire to join the force, an army spokesperson said Friday.

Arjun Vajpai, a doughty schoolboy from Noida, met Singh Thursday, the spokesperson said.

‘Army chief Gen. V.K. Singh felicitated Arjun Vajpai, a young boy from Noida who scaled Mt. Everest recently,’ the spokesperson said.

‘On meeting the chief, he expressed a deep desire to join the Indian Army where fortitude and courage is a norm. His next mission is to join the elite National Defence Academy,’ the spokesperson said

Vajpai, son of a retired army major and an alumnus of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, last month hoisted the Indian tricolour on the snow-clad summit of the 8,848 metre mountain.

He is a class 12 student of Ryan International School in Noida.