Visakhapatnam flying colors, Indian Navy ENC celebrates Republic Day

Visakhapatnam celebrated Republic Day 2018 with aplomb as Indian Navy Eastern Naval Command celebrated it with a ceremonial parade.

On the occasion of Republic Day, a Ceremonial Parade was held at the Indian Navy Eastern Naval Command (ENC) parade ground at INS Circars yesterday i.e 26 January 2018. Vice Admiral Karambir Singh PVSM, AVSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-IN-C), ENC took the salute and inspected a 50 men Armed Guard. He reviewed comprising platoons of Indian Navy personnel drawn from all ships and establishments, Defence Security Corps and Sea Cadets Corps in Visakhapatnam.

In addition to service personnel, the spectators included a large number of veterans and their families from the city. The Commander-in-Chief greeted all present on the occasion of the 69^thRepublic Day and complimented the men on their immaculate turn out and outstanding drill.

Keeping the Republic Day fervour high, 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.

The Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy, Eastern Naval Command emphasized the need to maintain the combat effectiveness and sustenance of units for deployments in order to maintain maritime stability in the region. He 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 recalled that the Navy’s ships, submarines and aircraft had deployed far and wide in the year gone by, with some travelling halfway across the globe for joint exercises with friendly foreign navies and added that such deployments would continue as the Indian Navy had a role of net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region.

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 flag poles.