Picture : ANI / Twitter
India celebrated its 70th Republic Day with a spectacular show at Rajpath. The South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was the chief guest at the celebrations this year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the people on the country’s 70th Republic Day on Saturday.
“Happy Republic Day to all fellow Indians,” he tweeted.
Happy Republic Day to all fellow Indians.
सभी देशवासियों को #गणतंत्रदिवस की शुभकामनाएं।
जय हिन्द!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 26, 2019
In a first , four Indian National Army (INA) veterans, all aged 90 and above, participated in the 70th Republic Day parade this year.
The Assam Rifles scripted history with an all-women contingent marching down Rajpath In other first, a woman officer led the Army Services Corps in the parade and the Daredevils Motorcycle Team included a woman officer.
The display of India’s military might with a grand parade of forces and a majestic flypast by fighter jets of the Air Force, marked the 70th Republic Day celebrations.
The country’s rich culture diversity were brought out in lovely fashion with 20 tableaux of the states and central government. The colourful cultural performances by school children too drew applause from the huge crowd.
Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, a surrendered militant who became a soldier, was posthumously awarded India’s highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashok Chakra, on Republic Day for his courage during a fierce encounter in which six terrorists were killed in Kashmir last November. Wani’s wife and mother received the award from President Ram Nath Kovind.
Wani belonged to an army unit raised 15 years ago with surrendered militants as an experiment to rewrite the rules of counter-terror operations in Kashmir.
