ASEAN Leaders As Chief Guests, 100-Foot Wide Stage For 69th Republic Day Parade: 10 Points

The parade will be presided over by President Ram Nath Kovind. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers, top leaders from political parties and senior officials will attend the event.

All India | Edited by | Updated: January 26, 2018 06:12 IST
ASEAN Leaders As Chief Guests, 100-Foot Wide Stage For 69th Republic Day Parade: 10 Points

Republic Day 2018: A group of 113 women from the BSF will perform breathtaking stunts on motorcycles

New Delhi:  As India celebrates its 69th Republic Day today, for the first time, 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN will be the chief guests at the ceremonial parade, held at Rajpath, in the heart of national capital Delhi. To accommodate the 10 heads of state, the stage that will be enclosed by bullet-proof glass will be 100 feet wide, three times bigger than what it was last year. There's unprecedented security in Delhi; mobile hit teams, anti-aircraft guns and sharpshooters have been deployed to keep a watch on the eight-km-long parade route from Rajpath to Red Fort.
Following are the top 10 developments in this story:
  1. The parade will be presided over by President Ram Nath Kovind. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers, top leaders from political parties and senior officials will attend the event.
  2. The foreign guests would go to Rashtrapati Bhavan first from where the cars carrying the heads of state and their spouses will start rolling down the Raisina Hill at 9.35 am. As per the protocol worked out, the first to arrive will be the Prime Minister of Brunei and the last to reach will be the Thai king. 
  3. The parade ceremony will begin at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate where PM Modi will pay homage to the soldiers who died in the line of duty by laying a wreath. The national anthem will be played with a 21 gun salute after the unfurling of the national flag. The parade will then begin and the President will take the salute.
  4. India's military might and traditions, along with the latest initiatives and achievements will be on full display at the parade. Two tableaux will also showcase India's historical, civilizational, educational, religious and cultural linkages with the ASEAN nations.    
  5. One of the main spectacles of the parade will be the breathtaking stunts on motorcycles performed by 'Seema Bhawani' - a group of 113 women from the Border Security Force or BSF. The group would be a first all-women contingent from any force to perform biking stunts at the parade.
  6. The Army's T-90 tank, Brahmos Missile System and Akash Weapon System will be the main draw in the mechanised columns. An Air Force tableau, themed "Indian Air Force Encouraging Indigenisation", will display models of Tejas Multirole Fighter Aircraft, Rudra Helicopter, Arudhra Radar and Akash missile system.
  7. Tableaux from 14 States and UT, Nine Central Ministries, Departments and Central Paramilitary Force will present the varied historical, art and cultural heritage of the country.
  8. The grand finale of the parade will be a fly past by the Air Force. C-130J Super Hercules, C-17 Globemaster, Su-30 MKIs, LCA Tejas will be among the aircraft that will fly in different formations.
  9. Nearly 60,000 security personnel drawn from the Delhi Police and central security forces have been deployed in Central Delhi. Snipers have been stationed on top of high-rise buildings while scores of CCTV cameras are keeping a tight vigil on people's movements on the parade route.
  10. No commercial flights will land or take off at the Indira Gandhi International Airport from 10.35 AM to 12.15 PM.

With inputs from agencies

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