ISLAMABAD: A spectacular Pakistan Day military parade held on Thursday where three wings of the armed forces displayed their professionalism and military prowess.
The impressive ceremony at the Parade Avenue started with the fly past of fighter jets of Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy led by Air Chief Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu presenting salute to the chief guest President Arif Alvi.
Formations of fighter jets including F-16, JF 17, Mirage, AWACs. C-130 and P-3C Orion participated in the fly past. Contingents of Pakistan Army, Navy, Pakistan Air Force, Special Services Groups, Frontier Corps, Rangers, and Islamabad police, Frontier Constabulary, Airport Security Force and Boys Scouts marched past presenting salute to the chief guest.
Mechanized columns including tanks, armored personnel carriers, rocket launchers, air defense system, Radars, indigenously built UAVs and short and long range missiles Ra’ad, Nasr, Babr, Ghaznavi and Shaheen were showcased on the occasion. Engineering corps presented its state-of-the-art equipment.
This was followed by the fly past of helicopters. Amidst applause by the audience, JF-17 and formations of Sherdils presented breathtaking aerobatics spreading range of colors in the skies.
As a mark of strong bonds between Pakistan and Turkey, a Turkish fighter jet presented a whole range of dazzling maneuvers. A Turkish military band on the occasion presented different tunes including “Dil Dil Pakistan”.
Floats depicted culture of Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and the four provinces. The floats of ministry of science and technology and the frontline healthcare workers against Covid-19 were also part of the parade.
The sky divers of the forces including the paratroopers of Bahrain, Iraq, Palestine, Srilanka and Turkey exhibited free fall, carrying national flags and those of services.
The President later visited an enclosure and met with those personalities who have made outstanding contributions in different fields. Different national songs were also presented on the occasion from the float of ISPR.
The mega event organized as per the Covid related SOPs was attended amongst others by the federal ministers, parliamentarians, the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and the three services chiefs.
