Pakistan showcases military might in big parade

Islamabad  -  The magnificent and colourful Pakistan Day Military parade was held at Shakarparian parade avenue in Islamabad today with the three wings of the armed forces demonstrating their exemplary professionalism and military prowess.

The Saudi Defense Minister was the guest of honour on the occasion. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the services chiefs and other prominent figures attended the parade. 

The impressive ceremony kicked off with the fly past of fighter jets of Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy. Newly inducted J-10 C, indigenously built JF-17 thunder, F-16 and Mirage fighter jets as well as AWACs, P-3C Orion and ATR participated in the fly past. Contingents of Pakistan Army, Navy, Pakistan Air Force, Special Services Group, Frontier Corps, Rangers, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police and Gilgit Baltistan Scouts marched past the dais presenting salute to the chief guest and the guest of honor.

Mechanized columns including tanks, armored personnel carriers, rocket launchers, air defense system, guns, UAVs, short and long range missiles Ra’ad, Nasr, Babur, Shaheen , Ghauri and Ababeel were showcased on the occasion. Engineering corps also presented its state of the art equipment. The parade featured the march past of the helicopters of Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force. The troops from Azerbaijan and China par­ticipated in the parade.

Amidst applause by the audi­ence, formations of Sherdils and JF-17 Thunder and F-16 fighter jets presented breathtaking aer­obatic maneuvers spreading a range of colours in the skies.

Floats depicting culture of Azad Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and the four provinces were part of the parade. This was followed by the fly past of helicopters of Pakistan Army, PAF and Navy.

The sky divers of Special Ser­vices Group exhibited free fall from a height of ten thousand feet, carrying national flags and those of services. Afterwards, the national flag was presented to Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar­if. The parade culminated with presentation of a special song themed ‘Pochay Jo Naam Koi Tum Pakistan Batana’. The nation cele­brated Pakistan Day on Saturday with National zeal and fervour, reaffirming the commitment to work hard for the development, stability, and unity of Pakistan. The day was dawn with 31-gun salute in the federal capital and 21-gun salute in provincial cap­itals while special prayers were offered in mosques after Fajr prayers for the prosperity and solidarity of the country. The na­tional flag was hoisted on major government buildings.

The main feature of the day was the grand military parade in Islamabad where contingents of three armed forces and other security forces conducted march past while fighter planes pre­sented aerobatic maneuvers.

Besides President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Muham­mad Shehbaz Sharif, federal cab­inet members, services chiefs, diplomats, notables from dif­ferent walks of life and a huge number of citizens attended the ceremony. Saudi Defence Minis­ter Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud was the guest of honour in the military parade while the contingents of China and Azer­baijan were also being featured in the parade.

President Asif Ali Zardari in his speech said that Pakistan was a peace-loving and respon­sible nuclear state but it would neither make any compromise on its sovereignty nor would tol­erate any efforts of terrorists or any group aimed at destabiliz­ing it. “Pakistan wants relations with all its neighbors. We are a peace-loving country and a re­sponsible nuclear state. Howev­er, let me make it clear that we will not compromise on our sov­ereignty... We will not tolerate any efforts by terrorists or any group to destabilize our coun­try,” the president said address­ing the Pakistan Day Parade cer­emony held here.

An investiture ceremony was held at Aiwan-e-Sadar in the af­ternoon where President Asif Ali Zardari conferred awards and medals to personalities for their outstanding contribution in dif­ferent fields.

The President conferred Nis­han-i-Pakistan award on Min­ister for Defence Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Muhammad She­hbaz Sharif, federal ministers, military top brass and members of the diplomatic corps. 

The award was conferred in recognition of Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud’s meritorious services for Paki­stan and its people, enhancing defence cooperation, strength­ening of bilateral ties and contri­butions towards peace efforts in the region. Sindh Governor Mo­hammed Kamran Khan Tessori visited the mausoleum of the Fa­ther of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammed Ali Jinnah and paid rich tributes to him on the occa­sion of Pakistan Day. Sindh Min­isters including Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon were also present on the occasion. Act­ing Governor Balochistan Capt (retd) Abdul Khaliq Achakzai conferred civil awards to 15 in­dividuals on behalf of the Pres­ident of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan province for their out­standing contributions in vari­ous spheres of life.