In a first, both the Army and Air Force Day parades are set to move out of the national capital region. While Air Force Day parade on October 8 will be held in Chandigarh, the Army Day parade on January 15, 2023, is scheduled to be held in the Southern Command area, officials confirmed.
“The next Army Day parade will be held in Southern Command. The Command will identify a location,” a defence official said on Monday.
Talking of the Air Force Day parade, another defence official said the shift was due to two reasons. “One is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guidance that major events in the national capital should be moved out to various places across the country to enable more people to witness and engage in them,” the official said.
The other reason is to give an opportunity to students from schools and colleges in other parts of the country to be part of it, the official explained. “It is also to showcase our prowess across the country.”
So far, as it has been held at Hindon Air Force Station in the national capital region, it has been the same institution that sends students every year. This will now change, the official said while adding, “It will give institutions in various parts of the country chance to participate.”
An investiture ceremony is held along with Air Force Day parade and flypast which is now being segregated from the latter, the official added. While the parade will be held at Air Force Station Chandigarh in the morning hours, the fly-past and aerial display will be conducted on the banks of the Sukhna Lake in the afternoon.
Along similar lines, the Combined Commanders Conference (CCC) which is addressed by the Prime Minister, has long moved out of Delhi. In 2014, the CCC was held in Delhi but since it has been held at different venues across the country. It was held on board INS Vikramaditya in 2015 and at the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun in 2017. In 2018, the CCC was held at Air Force Station, Jodhpur.
