Image Courtesy: ibtimes laestrella
Every year Republic Day parade offers something better than the preceding year, living up to that tradition this Republic day has something new to look forward to.
India is set to witness a new first when the French army marches alongside the Indian troops during the upcoming Republic Day celebrations in Delhi.
In 2009, the Indian armed forces had achieved the same when a contingent led the Bastille Day military parade down Paris’s Champs Elysee.
Then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was the Chief Guest of Honour in that event. This year, French President Francois Hollande will be the chief guest at the Rajpath. French Army’s 7th infantry regiment will be marching alongside the Indian troops.
The French contingent consists of 56 soldiers while the standard military marching contingent at Republic day parade consists of 144 personnel.
The French military is taking part in a joint counter-terrorism act called ‘ Exercise Shakti 2016’ which began on January 8th at the Mahajan field firing range in Bikaner.
There are some other instances where different countries troops have marched together!
RUSSIA – In 2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade where foreign and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) soldiers joined Russian forces on Red Square for the parade.
CHINA – 1,000 foreign troops from 17 countries participated in China’s military parade that marked the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II on Sept. 03, 2015. Some changes have been incorporated for the coming Republic Day
Republic day celebrations are trimmed from 115 minutes to 90 minutes to retain viewers interest. Also, the Republic Day celebrations will see new “fusion” music instead of the age-old tradition of playing only military music.
The Navy will showcase its “Make in India” efforts by displaying models of under-production aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and submarine INS Kalvari. The IAF will showcase its “Humanitarian and Disaster Relief” activity during the year in places such as Yemen, Nepal and Chennai. The Army will march with its theme “Marching ahead with Incredible India”.
Remembering Republic Day
January 26, 1930 was earlier celebrated as India’s Independence Day or Purna Swaraj Day. It’s the day India decided to fight for complete freedom.
The first republic day was celebrated on 1950 while the first republic day at Rajpath was held in 1955. Republic day was the day when we as people adopted the Indian constitution which is the longest in the world.
Drafting the constitution was a herculean task completed by B R Ambedkar who took 2 years and 11 months to complete.
The Logical Indian salutes our founding fathers and our present leaders for the efforts in upholding the constitution which makes the republic day celebrations all the more to be proud of.
