Kathmandu: The Nepal government on Wednesday felicitated Kaamya Karthikeyan, the youngest Indian female to scale the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, from the Nepal side on Everest Day.

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" felicitated the record-holding climber in line with other record-holding summiteers during the 2024 spring expedition.

Speaking to ANI after the felicitation program, the record-holding climber expressed her gratitude and heartfulness for being award along with the renowned climbers.

Kaamya Karthikeyan said, "It's really an honour and there were such renowned, such well-known mountaineers here. It's really amazing to have been recognized for my expedition and to have been honoured by the Nepal Government. I am really really thankful and grateful to them. It is definitely something I will cherish."

She stood atop the world with the icy wind whipping at her face as she gazed at the breathtaking panorama of Everest accompanied by her father, S. Karthikeyan, a commander in the Indian Navy to climb the world's highest peak Mount Everest or Sagarmatha.

Karthikeyan successfully scaled Mt. Everest at 12:50 pm on May 20.

Kaamya Karthikeyan broke the record previously held by Shivangi Pathak, who summited Everest at the age of 16 years and 10 months in 2018. Kaamya, at 16 years and nine months, now holds the record.

"When I reached the summit, it was really exciting, really exhilarating. I was super happy to have been there. I was really happy that, I was still feeling strong at the summit and I was able to talk to my dad through the radio and also communicate with my mom and tell her that I have reached the top. So it's a wonderful achievement and it's been a dream of mine for a really long time. I am really happy to have been here to actualize it," Kaamya told ANI.

The father-daughter duo reached Camp 4 on the afternoon of May 19 and pushed for the summit that same night. Kaamya Karthikeyan is a Class XII student at Navy Children School, Mumbai, India.

The father-daughter duo had started their expedition from Kathmandu on April 6, 2024, and and practised for seven weeks of gruelling winter, harsh weather, the treacherous Khumbu Icefall and a steep battle against exhaustion.

(With Inputs From Agencies)