India’s military prowess and multi-hued images of the country’s rich cultural diversity and achievements in various fields were on display at the majestic Rajpath on Tuesday during 67th Republic Day parade which was graced by French President Francois Hollande as the chief guest.
Thousands of people on both sides of the imposing Rajpath, India’s ceremonial boulevard facing the seat of power Raisina Hills, braved the winter chill and cheered loudly as the marching contingents and tableux went past them.
This was the first time when the French soldiers of 35th Infantry Regiment was given the honour for leading the marching contingents.
Celebration started with the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defense Minsiter, Manohar Parikar and three service chiefs at Amar Jawan Jyoti. The Prime Minister paid tributes by placing a wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti to countless soldiers who died in World War -I.
The formal proceedings of the event started with 21 Gun Salute by 2281 filed battery under the command of lieutenant Colonel Aditya Kaumar Devrani while Assistant Instructor Gunnery Subedar J louis was Gun positing officer.
After the national flag was unfurled followed by the National Anthem to mark the celebrations of 67th Republic Day parade, President Parnab Mukherjee presented the Ashok Chakra (Posthumous), highest peacetime gallantry award, to lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami of 9 Para (Special Force) for his bravery in fighting with terrorists on the intervening night of September 2/3 last year in Haphruda forest at Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. The award was received by his wife Bhavna Goswami.
Along with Francois Hollande — the fifth French President to have attended the ceremony — Vice-President Hamid Ansari, the three Defense Services chiefs, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Cabinet Ministers and several other dignitaries were also seated to witness the march past. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, BJP president Amit Shah and the country’s top political and military brass, besides the diplomatic community were also present.
Heralding the parade march past, lieutenant Genral Rajan Ravindran, General Commanding officer, Delhi area lead the parade with Parade Second In Command Major General Rajesh Sahai.
A French military contingent also marched down the Rajpath, a first by any foreign armed force. In 2009, an Indian contingent had also participated in France’s annual Bastille Day parade.
Apart from India’s missile firing capability T-90 ‘Bhishma’ tank, Infantry Combat Vehicle BMP II (Sarath), Mobile Autonomous launcher of the BrahMos Missile System, Akash Weapon System, Smerch launcher Vehicles, the highlights of the parade also included a canine squad.
After a gap of 26 years, 36 Indian canine soldiers, consisting of 24 labradors and 12 German Shepherds, also marched down the majestic Rajpath.
Donning capes with bold stripes of maroon and gold, the unit’s colours, the dogs, trained for explosive and mine detection, tracking, assault and guard duty, were cheered by the crowd.
“The dogs are selected on the basis of requirements that we have in the Army like, mine detection, explosive detection, tracking, assault, guard, infantry patrol among others. Keeping in mind these requirements, we select the dog on the basis of their alertness, temper, aggressiveness, execution of command,” Captain Anurag Boruah from the Remount Veterinary Corps (RVC) said. Army dogs had last time taken part in the Republic Day parade in 1990. As the dogs are not used to the increased noise levels like what prevailed on Rajpath, a special training session was held.
These dogs and their trainers of this Corps have won one Shourya Chakra, six Sena Medals, 142 COAS Commendation Cards, six VCOAS Commendation Cards and 448 GOC-in-C Commendation Cards.
During the Republic Day ceremony , viewers watched the display models of Indian Air Force rescue planes namely c-17 globemaster , C-130 Hercules and MI-17V5 aircarft , used in the rescue operations in Uttarakhand , Kashmir , Yemen and Nepal during the occurrence of natural calamities.