Republic day parade held at ENC grounds in Visakhapatnam

On the occasion of Republic Day, a Ceremonial Parade was held at the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) parade ground at INS Circars in Visakhapatnam on 26 January 2019. Vice Admiral Karambir Singh PVSM, AVSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, ENC took the salute and inspected a 50 men Armed Guard and later reviewed the platoons comprising of naval personnel drawn from all ships, submarines and establishments, Defence Security Corps and Sea Cadets Corps. Vice Admiral MS Pawar, Chief of Staff, ENC, was the Conducting Officer of the Parade and Cdr Manikanta S Oinam was the Parade Commander. In addition to service personnel, the spectators included a large number of veterans and their families.

The Commander-in-Chief greeted all present on the occasion of the 70^th Republic Day and complimented the men on parade on their immaculate turnout and outstanding drill. Speaking of the occasion, Vice Admiral Karambir Singh reminded everyone of the sacrifices of the men and women who laid down their lives in the freedom struggle.  He added that on this day in 1950, India became a Sovereign Republic by adopting the Indian Constitution and setting the guiding principles and the moral compass for each citizen of this nation. He reminded everyone how the framers of the Constitution, headed by Dr Balasaheb Ambedkar, drew from the best practices from across the world and give us the best Constitution in the world.   He also urged everyone to uphold the Guiding Principles laid down in the Constitution for preserving the unity and integrity of the Nation.  He brought out that whilst we are well aware of our fundamental rights, it is equally important to know our Fundamental duties enshrined in the Constitution that we must abide by.  He called upon all to discharge these Fundamental Duties to the best of our abilities.

Emphasising the transition to Mission Based Deployment, the Commander-in-Chief emphasized the additional responsibility of the Indian Navy as a stabilizing force and as a Net Security Provider in the Indian Ocean Region.  He complimented the units of ENC for maintaining a high tempo of operations meeting all challenges on the Eastern Seaboard and displaying outstanding professionalism in the conduct of several important exercises during last year.  He also highlighted the need to maintain professional competence by each member to ensure combat effectiveness and prolonged deployments.

The Admiral also reminded the men and women on parade of the fragile security situation in our region emanating from terrorism and other threats and urged all present to never let their guard down, adding that there should be no compromise on security. He also underscored the importance of information security and need to be on guard against intelligence operative who try to deceive service personnel with false identities on social media.

As part of the Republic Day celebrations, all naval ships at Visakhapatnam were also ‘dressed overall’ with various signal flags displayed from their main mast to the front and rear flagpoles.

As received in a press note