As the proud and exulted parents and relatives of the cadets put the stars on their shoulders at the peeping ceremony, the senior officers of the Indian and Afghanistan Armies performed the same for the Foreign Gentlemen Cadets (FGC) as their families were not present to celebrate the occasion. This year, 64 FGCs were part of the passing-out parade who won epaulets. The largest contingent of the FGC was from Afghanistan with 44 cadets. Twelve cadets from Tajikistan also passed out on Saturday while two each were from Nepal and Mauritius. Mention worthy, the Indian Military Academy (IMA) has trained 1,742 FGC from the friendly nations till date. The visiting chief of Afghan National Army, General Sher Mohammad Karimi was effusive in his praise for the facilities and training quality of IMA.
Asadullah Sherjada belonging to lagham province of Afghanistan said that the 18-month- long training at the academy has transformed him for the better. He said he would always be in warm touch with his Indian batch mates. Ibrahim Shareef of Maldives said that his father who is in tourism business wanted him to join the family business. However, he was convinced that the military profession is the best. He said that he is proud of having been selected for the prestigious training at IMA Dehradun.