‘Black cat’ commandos make lively Republic Day debut

New Delhi: The marching contingent of National Security Guard (NSG) was among the impressive debutants at the Republic Day parade on Thursday.

Dressed in all black, a contingent of about 140 personnel dashed sheen to the parade. The march past by the elite counter-terror force displayed ‘Sherpa’ — a specially designed hijack intervention vehicle — and two gypsies used for anti-hijack operations.

The ‘black cat’ commandos received a rapturous round of applause from the spectators as they marched down Rajpath singing the NSG song “Hum Haina Haina Na Hindustan”, penned by poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar.

The NSG was raised in 1984, following Operation Blue Star and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, for combating terrorist activities.

Ever since its inception, the NSG has carried out 115 counter-terror operations, including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and the recent attack on the Air Force station, Pathankot.

On Thursday, the UAE became the second country after France to send its military contingent to participate in the Republic Day parade of India.

The 149-member UAE contingent on Rajpath was another highlight of the day.

Crown prince of the Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was the Chief Guest at the dazzling 68th Republic Day celebrations in the national capital.

Also for the first time, the parade saw the fly-past of three LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) Tejas Aircraft flying at a height of 300 meter from the ground in ‘Vic’ formation.

Tejas’ is the first advance Fly by Wire (FBW) fighter aircraft designed, developed and manufactured in India. The aircraft has been designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).