Amid tight security, India celebrates R-Day with display of its military might, cultural diversity

The national capital, covered with tight secuirty, witnessed a grand parade at the Rajpath where the country's achievements in different fields, state-of- the-art defence platforms, its diverse cultural and social traditions were on display in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chief Guest of this year Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The government’s emphasis on self-reliance and indigenisation were also showcased before the public.

The highlights of this year’s Parade were a 149-member UAE Presidential Guard, the Air Force, the Navy and Army contingent led by a UAE band consisting of 35 musicians marching on Rajpath.

They presented a ceremonial salute to the President of India. The UAE military contingent was led by Lt Col Abood Musabeh Abood Musabeh Alghfeli.

This year’s parade witnessed some of the firsts to its credit.

For the first time a contingent of the National Security Guard (NSG) popularly known as the Black Cat Commandoes have march-past the Rajpath.

The parade also saw the fly-past of three LCA Tejas Aircraft flying at a height of 300 m from ground in ‘Vic’ formation and the Airborne Early Warning & Control System (AEW&C) developed by DRDO.

Sticking to the 67 years tradition of the Republic Day Celebration, the colourful BSF Camel Regiment led by Deputy Commandant Kuldeep Seervi took part.

The Indian Army’s missile firing capability, T-90 ‘Bhishma’ tank, Infantry Combat Vehicle BMP-2K, Mobile Autonomous Launcher of the BrahMos Missile System, Weapon Locating Raddar ‘Swathi’, Akash Weapon System, CBRN Recconnnaisance Vehicle and Dhanush Gun System were the main draw in the mechanised columns.

An Indian Air Force Tableau rolled down the Rajpath with the theme “Air Dominance Through Network Centric Operations”. The Tableau will display the scaled down models of Su-30 MKI, Mirage-2000, AWACS, UAV, Apache and Communication Sattelite.

This year the Indian Navy’s Tableau contained the theme ‘Indian Navy – Professional Force-Anchoring Stability, Security and National Prosperity’. The tableau showcased the lethal Marine Commandoes proceeding for action, the indigenously built Kolkata Class Destroyer and the Kalvari Class next generation attack submarines. The tableaux also displayed a model of the P-8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

The parade ceremony commenced at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate where Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in paying homage to the martyrs by laying a wreath.

An eternal flame burns at the Amar Jawan Jyoti to commemorate the indomitable courage of our Armed Forces personnel who have made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the motherland. The Amar Jawan, the immortal soldier, is symbolised by a reversed rifle standing on its barrel and crested by a soldier’s helmet.

As per tradition, after unfurling the National Flag, the national anthem was played with a 21 gun salute. The parade then commenced and the President took the salute.

This year’s Chief Guest in the parade is Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces.

The parade has been commanded by Lt. General Manoj Mukund Naravane, General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area. Major General Rajesh Sahai, Chief of Staff, Headquarter Delhi Area is the parade Second-in-Command.

Param Vir Chakra winners Subedar Major & Honorary Captain Bana Singh (Retd), Subedar Yogendra Singh Yadav, 18 Grenadiers and Naib/Subedar Sanjay Kumar, 13 JAK Rifles and Ashok Chakra winners Major General Cyrus A Pithawalla (Retd), Lt Col Jas Ram Singh (Retd), Hukum Singh and Govind Singh of district Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh and Bhure Lal of district Guna also from Madhya Pradesh followed the Deputy Parade Commander on Jeeps.

The marching contingents of Army included horse-mounted columns of the 61st Cavalry, the Machanised Infantry Regiment, the Bihar Regiment, the 39 Gorkha Training Centre, 58 Gorkha Training Centre, the Madras Engineering Group and Centre and 103 Infantry Battalion (Territoral Army) Sikh LI.

The marching contingent of Navy comprising 144 young sailors was led by Lieutenant Aparna Nair, while the Indian Air Force contingent comprising 144 men was led by Squadran Leader Attal Singh Shekhon.

The Paramilitary and other auxiliary civil forces included the Border Security Force Camel Contingent, Indian Coast Guard, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Delhi Police, National Cadet Corps and National Service Scheme.

Tableaux from 17 States and UT, six Central Ministries and Departments presented the varied historical, art and cultural heritage of the country.

They showcased country’s progress in different fields, particularly floats from Goa, Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam and Jammu & Kashmir with their varied themes, which will be of special attraction.

The floats of Central Board of Excise and Customs, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Allevation showcased the rapid development of some of the flagship programmes of the Government.

The floats of Council of Scientific and Industial Reasearch (CSIR) and Ministry of Skill Development & Enterpreneurship were the highlight the significant progress in the scientific and technoligical growth in the country as well as our efforts to promote skill development and enterpreneurship to achieve the vision of “Skill India”.

Twenty one of the Twenty five children selected for the National Bravery Award–2016 are also participating in the parade.

Four children have got the award posthumously.

In the children’s pageant section, about 600 boys and girls drawn from three schools in Delhi and a group of school children from South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur performed colourful dances on varied themes.

The splendid driving skills of ‘Dare Devils’- the motorcycle display team of Corps of Military Police was a major attraction of the parade.

They performed different stunts like Salute to President, Ladder, Double Bar, Lotus, Christmas Tree, Aircraft, Sudarshan Chakra, Flower Pot, Pyramid and Wheeling on moving motor cycles.

The grand finale of the parade was a spectacular flypast by the IAF. The flypast commenced with the ‘Chakra’ formation, comprising three Mi-35 helicopters in ‘Vic’ formation, followed by the ‘Hercules’ formation comprising three C-130J Super Hercules aircraft in ‘Vic’ formation.

Trailing them was the ‘Netra’ which is an Airborne Early Warning and Control System Aircraft also known as “Eye in the Sky”.

It was be followed by the ‘Globe formation’ comprising one C-17 Globemaster flanked by two Su-30 MKIs. Next in line were the fighters, where five Jaguars flew in Arrowhead formation, another five MiG-29 Air Superiority Fighters flew in Fulcrum style.

Then the breath-taking ‘Trishul’ formation comprising three Su-30 MKIs of No. 24 Squadron flew over the Rajpath, and once in front of the saluting dais, the Su-30 MKI aircraft split upwards, making a Trishul in the sky.

The flypast concluded with another Su-30 MKI carrying out a ‘Vertical Charlie’ manoeuvre over the saluting dais.

The ceremony culminated with the national anthem and release of balloons.