For the first time ever, the Indian Air Force Day (IAF) Parade and Indian Army Day Parade will be moving out of the national capital region (NCR). Next month the IAF Day Parade will be taking place in Chandigarh. And the Indian Army Day Parade in January 2023 will be in the Southern Command Area.

According to officials, on October 8, 2022, the IAF Day will start with the parade at the Air Force Station in Chandigarh, and this will be followed by the aerial display and flypast on the banks of Sukhna Lake.

Indian Army Day Parade

According to officials the decision to move these important events related to the services is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guidance to move them out of NCR to other places across the country. This will help in engaging more with the youth and the people will be able to witness these events.”

And “it will also be an opportunity to showcase the might of the services across the country. This will also give a chance to school and college students of other states to be part of the events,” added the officers quoted above.

The location for the Army Day Parade will be identified by the Southern Command.

So far, each year the IAF Parade & aerial show and flypast takes place at Hindon Air Force Station located in NCR, and students come from the same institutions located in the vicinity.

Different views

In 2014 a decision was taken to move the Combined Commanders Conference (CCC) which is addressed by the Prime Minister was moved out of Delhi, out of Delhi. Since then it has taken place in different locations across the country. For instance, INS Vikramaditya was the location in 2015, the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun in 2017 and various other locations over the years.

Terming it as a good idea — according to a former IAF officer, “The IAF Day Parade earlier used to be held at Palam, and then it moved to Hindon to avoid prolonged Delhi airport closure due to flypast requirements. Now, the PM wants all such events including Army Day to be in different parts of the country every year for greater audience exposure to our services. Similarly as combined Commanders Conference being held outside of Delhi since 2014.”

Army Day Parade

According to Lt Col Manoj K Channan, Indian Army Veteran “The Army Day parade is held each year on the 15th of January each year. This date was chosen to commemorate the day as this day General Kodanera M Carriappa, took over as the first commander in chief of the Indian Army from General Francis Roy Bucher on 15th January 1949.”

On 26th November 1949, the Constitution was adopted by the Indian Constituent Assembly which came into effect on 26th January 1950. The Indian Constitution replaced the Government of India Act 1935 as the governing document of India making it a newly formed Republic.

“The Army Day parade is celebrated across the country and on this day the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) awards gallantry awards and unit citations. This is also an occasion for COAS to give out its focus for the year. Likewise, each of the Army’s Command HQs holds their ceremonies in awarding gallantry awards and unit citations in different regions,” Lt Col Channan explains.

In his opinion “the Army Day comes a few days before the Republic Day Parade. It is like a preparatory phase for the units to participate in the National celebrations on the Kartavya Path where the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the President of India leads the Nation in reviewing the Parade.”

“The decision to take the Army Day Parade to different locations may have its own merits as the government has taken a decision, there is no clarity if the Republic Day parade too will be held in the same city, as the logistics to move the troops and equipment is colossal and it will be expensive.

Central events should be held in the National Capital as the regional cities do have their own celebrations within the respective command HQs,” the Indian Army Veteran states.