Military might on show as India celebrates its national day
- Schoolchildren, folk dancers, and police and military battalions marched through the capital. Similar parades were held in other Indian states
Thousands of Indians converged on a ceremonial boulevard in the country’s capital to watch a display of military power and cultural diversity amid tight security during Saturday’s national day celebrations.
Schoolchildren, folk dancers, and police and military battalions marched through the capital’s parade route on a cold morning, followed by a military hardware display that included M777 Howitzer artillery guns, T-90 main battle tanks, locally made nuclear-capable missile systems and infantry combat vehicles.
Similar parades were held in other Indian states, including Jammu-Kashmir and Manipur, where separatist militants do not accept Indian rule and called for general strikes.
Police said government forces killed two suspected militants on Saturday on the outskirts of Indian-held Kashmir’s main city, Srinagar. A police statement said Indian troops laid a siege to the area based on “credible input” of presence of militants, leading to a gunfight. The slain militants “had serious plans of a terrorist act today,” the statement said.
Suspected militants carried out at least half a dozen grenade attacks in the region on Friday, targeting police and paramilitary camps, police said. There were no reported injuries.