As the Indian Army is all set to celebrate the 71st Army Day with parades and shows at its headquarters across the country, we salute the brave soldiers, both living and martyred, who risk and sacrifice their lives to protect us.
Significance
Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year to commemorate the day when (then) Lieutenant General KM Cariappa took over General Sir Francis Butcher as Commander-in-Chief of India on January 1949.
The day is celebrated to honour our country’s soldiers who set the greatest example of selfless service and brotherhood, and above all, love for the country. We are proud to say that the Indian Army is one of the most powerful militaries of the world, competing with superpowers like US, Russia and China.
This Army Day, let’s pay a tribute to India’s courageous warriors by knowing 11 interesting facts about the Indian Army:
1. The Indian Army was formed in 1776 under the Government of the East India Company as a military department at Kolkata.
2. The motto of the Indian Army is ‘service before self’ and its mission: to ensure national security and national unity, defend the nation from external aggression and internal threats, and maintain peace and security within its borders.
3. Comprising 80% of the country’s active defence personnel, the Indian Army is the biggest volunteer army in the world.
4. The Indian soldiers are considered among the very best on high altitudes, jungle warfare and mountain warfare: the Siachen conflict is considered as an exemplary example of mountain warfare.
5. Operation Rahat, carried out by the Indian Army to evacuate those affected by 2013 North India floods, is considered as one of the biggest civilian rescue operations in the world.
6. Baily Bridge in Ladakh: the bridge at the highest elevation in the world, was constructed by the Indian Army in 1982.
7. The Indian Army controls the highest battlefield in the world: Siachen glacier, 5000 metres above sea level.
8. The Indian horsed cavalry regiment is one of the last 3 remaining regiments in the world.
9. The Indian Army is one of the biggest contributors to the United Nations peace operations, and has conducted large peace-time exercises like Operation Brasstacks and Exercise Shoorveer.
10. The Indian Army is one of the few armies in the world that has never initiated a war and its Peace Keeping Force is known for its counterinsurgency efforts.
11. Some of the iconic victories of India include Kargil war, Siachen conflict, Chola incident, Liberation of Goa, Liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, 2nd and 3rd Indo-Pak war, Indo-Sino conflict of 1967; and major operations undertaken by the Indian Army are Operation Vijay, Operation Meghdoot and Operation Cactus.
We at Chhattisgarh Times salute and pay our gratitude to all the Brave Soldiers working tirelessly at the borders even in extreme weather conditions just to ensure that we and our families stay safe and live peacefully.
Thankyou Indian Army!
Jai Hind!
