Dehradun: President Ramnath Kovind reached the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun for the occasion of the passing out ceremony of 387 Cadets held today. Of these, 319 Indian cadets will become lieutenants in the Indian Army post the parade, whereas the remaining 68 cadets from 8 allied countries including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Myanmar, Tanzania and Turkey will pass out and join their country as military officers.
President Kovind received the parade salute as a reviewing officer in the Passing Out Parade of the IMA batch 2021. Anmol Gurung from this batch received Sword of Honor in the Passing Out Parade, while the silver medal went to Tushar Sapra and bronze medal to Ayush Ranjan.
In his address, the President called upon all to dedicate themselves to the service of the nation. He told the cadets about the challenges that our nation is facing today regionally and globally. He emphasized that not only physical and mental fortitude is sufficient to deal with the modern day threats of the country, but a strategic mindset is also crucial for the military officers. He also underlined that the current techniques of warfare have changed and will keep changing, and therefore, the military officers will have to keep adapting to these techniques.
In his speech, he also remembered late CDS Bipin Rawat by saying that our flag will always be high because of brave men like him. He highlighted that Gen. Rawat was also trained at IMA and affirmed his belief that like Gen. Rawat, all the cadets who pass out from IMA will always protect the honor of India.
This year, the IMA Parade was to be commemorated on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the victory of the Indian Armed Forces in the Indo-Pak War of 1971. But things changed abruptly after 13 officers, including Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat, were killed in a helicopter crash in Coonoor on December 8. The event was therefore held very subtly, without any major celebrations.
45 cadets that passed out this year are from Uttar Pradesh, whereas 43 are from Uttarakhand. Simultaneously, 34 cadets from Haryana, 26 from Bihar, 23 from Rajasthan and 22 from Punjab passed out. The parade consisted of three bands - the Indian Military Band Dehradun, Bengal Engineer Band and Garhwal Rifle Band. The Vijay Bharat Dhun was played by these bands as the parade march started, adding sparkle to the parade.
On his arrival in Dehradun on Friday, the President was received by Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmeet Singh, Cabinet Minister Satpal Maharaj and other senior officials. He was also gifted with a replica of the Kedarnath temple as a memento by the Governor at the Raj Bhavan here.
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