Celebrated to commemorate the arrival of the Indian Army at Budgam airfield on October 27, 1947, Infantry Day marks the first military operation of Independent India.
Photo: SNS
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande will be attending an event in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday to mark the 75th anniversary of Infantry Day.
Celebrated to commemorate the arrival of the Indian Army at Budgam airfield on October 27, 1947, Infantry Day marks the first military operation of Independent India to protect Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistani forces.
The Army reached at the airfield after the ‘instrument of accession’ was signed on October 26, 1947, between the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir Hari Singh and the Union of India.
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“The defence minister and the Army chief will take part in the Infantry Day anniversary event in Jammu and Kashmir. And, a number of other top officers of the armed forces will also be present,” a senior official was quoted saying to PTI.
One of the major scenes scheduled for the events are historic Budgam landings will be reenacted, among other events planned to be held on Thursday to mark the landmark occasion.
In New Delhi, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan will pay homage at the National War Memorial to commemorate the historic day. The reenactment of the historic event (Budgam landings) to be held at Old Air Field, Srinagar, and is aimed to pay tribute to the brave soldiers and people of Jammu and Kashmir who laid down their lives, and also to honour the next of family of war heroes who participated in the 1947-48 war.
The Indian army under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Dewan Ranjit Rai, who later lost his life at Baramulla, modified the course of the war, wherein people and soldiers of State Forces of Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Army fought alongside valiantly, to put the Pakistani forces behind , driving them out of most of Jammu and Kashmir till ceasefire on January 5, 1949.
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