A contingent of 179 United Arab Emirates (UAE) soldiers will lead the Republic Day parade at Rajpath this year as President Pranab Mukherjee will take the salute from the marching contingents.
Giving details of the parade, Major General Rajesh Sahai, Chief of Staff, Delhi Area and second-in-command of the parade, said on Monday that since UAE contingent is our guest, they will lead the parade. This is the second time in successive years that a foreign contingent will take part in Republic Day. A French Army team had marched down the Rajpath last year.
Brigadier Obaid Al-Zahumi, leader of the UAE contingent, said they were excited to be a part of the event. The UAE team got an invitation from the Indian Army three weeks back and since then “we have been busy in getting ready for the parade. We have a nice mix of soldiers from the Army, Navy and the Air Force,” Zahumi said. The contingent also participated in the full dress rehearsal here on Monday.
The Republic Day parade will commence after General Officer Commanding(GOC) Delhi area, the Parade Commander, drives past the President’s dais saluting him. The Indian Army will showcase its T-90 and BMP tanks, two Bramhos missiles, Dhanush gun system along with Weapon locating Radars (WlR) Swati at the R-Day parade.
Fifty-one horses of 61st Cavalry Regiment and Border Security Force’s camel contingent will be a part of the show. Marching contingents of Mechanised Infantry, Madras Engineer Group (MEG), Bihar Regiment, 39 Gorkha Training Centre and Territorial Army will also participate in the parade, apart from contingents of Coast Guard and National Security Guard. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will showcase its Advanced Towed Artillery System and Medium Power Radar Arudha at the parade.
This year the parade will see tableaux from 17 States and six Central Government ministries. These tableaux will showcase varied themes ranging from country’s rich cultural heritage to socio-economic development to progress in key areas like IT, women empowerment and environment protection.