India says no to UAE skydivers at Republic Day parade

[RPK]

http://www.newindianexpress.com/nat...skydivers-at-republic-day-parade-1557844.html

NEW DELHI: India has politely turned down United Arab Emirates request to display its para-dropping skills at the Rajpath as part of the Republic Day parade citing security reasons. Crown Price of UAE Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will be the chief guest at the 2017 Republic Day parade celebrations. In response to UAE request, government has offered to accommodate their marching contingent in the parade. But, UAE, who is considered to be one of the close allies of Pakistan, has not responded to New Delhi’s refusal to its proposal.

According to sources in the South block, which houses the ministry of defence, as Crown prince of Abu Dhabi will be the chief guest of parade, they wished their skydivers to show their skills at Rajpath in front of VVIPs including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukerjee and other dignitaries. But the ministry of defence, which organizes the event, conveyed Abu Dhabi that security manual does not even allow low flying at parade venue citing security reasons. Only fly past by Indian Air Force fighters and helicopters are permitted at the Rajapath.

Moreover, in presence of high profile gathering, margin of error is very less as well as hovering of an aircraft above Rajpath might be a security threat, explained a senior official.

So, ministry of defence quietly informed UAE that, the gulf nation can send its marching contingent as well as military band to be part of the Republic Day.

“We have said no to their proposal as it was against security manual. But we can accommodate their marching contingent as well as military band, similar to what we received from France last year. French army and band took part in the parade in presence of their President François Hollande,” said a senior official in the South Block. Moreover, officials also fear overcast weather conditions during parade will make fly past of IAF difficult.

But, UAE, who is considered to be one of the close allies of Pakistan, has not responded to New Delhi’s refusal to its proposal. Crown Prince Zayad Al Nahyan will be the first leader from the Gulf at the parade since 2006 when Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud was the chief guest of Republic Day celebrations.

While French President Francois Hollande was the chief guest for last year, it was US President Barack Obama in 2015.

 

[schoolboy]

Military contingents and hardware have no place in a parade to celebrate adoption of a constitution in a democratic country. That's more appropriate for military dictatorships. Defies logic and reason how people can be made to feel patriotic by watching paid professionals along with tanks and guns and what-not march endlessly for 45 mins. And to make it worse it's considered cool to invite foreign troops as well. No doubt Idi Amin Dada would be proud to see us.

Perhaps I will live to see the day this nonsense is removed for good - and the parade will be trimmed to the cultural floats and the dancers.

 

[punit]

Military contingents and hardware have no place in a parade to celebrate adoption of a constitution in a democratic country. That's more appropriate for military dictatorships. Defies logic and reason how people can be made to feel patriotic by watching paid professionals along with tanks and guns and what-not march endlessly for 45 mins. And to make it worse it's considered cool to invite foreign troops as well. No doubt Idi Amin Dada would be proud to see us.

Perhaps I will live to see the day this nonsense is removed for good - and the parade will be trimmed to the cultural floats and the dancers.

use remote !

 

[third eye]

Military contingents and hardware have no place in a parade to celebrate adoption of a constitution in a democratic country. That's more appropriate for military dictatorships. Defies logic and reason how people can be made to feel patriotic by watching paid professionals along with tanks and guns and what-not march endlessly for 45 mins. And to make it worse it's considered cool to invite foreign troops as well. No doubt Idi Amin Dada would be proud to see us.

Perhaps I will live to see the day this nonsense is removed for good - and the parade will be trimmed to the cultural floats and the dancers.

Posts like these makes one wish there was a ' Thumbs down' option too.

 

[punit]

Posts like these makes one wish there was a ' Thumbs down' option too.

u can give negative rating.. but that will be too harsh.

 

[Śakra]

Military contingents and hardware have no place in a parade to celebrate adoption of a constitution in a democratic country.

US parade after Desert Storm

 

[Hindustani78]

http://zeenews.india.com/india/uae-...arab-soldiers-to-march-in-parade_1965984.html

New Delhi: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will be the Chief Guest at the 2017 Republic Day parade.

In a first, Arab soldiers will be marching in New Delhi during the parade.

A report in The Times of India said the visiting dignitary will bring a marching band from the UAE's defence forces at the parade on Republic Day.

Notably, the French marching band had joined the parade in 2016 in honour of Francois Hollande, when he was the chief guest.

The visit of Al Nahyan, who is also the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE armed forces, is expected to give a boost to bilateral ties in the key areas of trade and security.

During Modi's visit in August last year, the two countries had condemned efforts, including by states, to use religion to justify, support and sponsor terrorism against other countries, or to use terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

They had also decided to strengthen their cooperation in the area of counter-terrorism.

Trade is another important component of the bilateral ties as UAE is India's third largest trading partner after China and the United States. Bilateral trade between UAE and India is around USD 60 billion.

There are also more than 2.6 million Indians live in the UAE and their annual remittance is estimated to be around USD 14 billion.


First Published: Tuesday, January 10, 2017 - 13:38

 

[schoolboy]

Posts like these makes one wish there was a ' Thumbs down' option too.

And posts like this makes one wish posters should be made to write a few lines of reasoning for their posts.

US parade after Desert Storm

Thanks - but that's a victory parade - a one-off celebration of a military victory. As such it's appropriate to have troops parade and show off all the latest armament.

The US does not have troops marching by on any other occasion - certainly not one with any periodic regularity.

Jan 26, 1950 was the adoption of the Constitution. It's not a military victory by any means and in fact we who pride ourselves on a country where the military is firmly under civilian control should desist from displays of might that serve no purpose but to showcase our insecurities.

Anyway these are professionals who are paid to do a job - they are not conscripts that we need to glorify year on year.

Mature countries do not need to publicly display their military might. The R-day parade is just a colonial exercise in showmanship - originally designed to show the natives the might of the empire - that needs to be recast. To that extent I am happy with a reduction on any emphasis on the military part.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/UAE’s-Crown-Prince-to-get-a-royal-welcome/article17014483.ece

The Emirati Royal’s presence at the Republic Day ceremony underscores New Delhi’s efforts to woo Islamabad’s traditional allies

Officials will meet for the first India-UAE Strategic Dialogue here on January 20 for preliminary talks on defence, security and investment, sources say. The talks come 18 months after the two nations announced a strategic partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Abu Dhabi and a week ahead of UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to Delhi for Republic Day.

Officials say the talks will be led by Union Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar and will include National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar “if they are needed”. In particular, a $75-billion infrastructure fund set up by the UAE for India and India’s hopes for closer counter-terror cooperation will be discussed.

“Since this is the first Strategic Dialogue, we are exploring our options on the format and the level of talks for the future, which is why we are keeping it flexible,” said a diplomat involved in the planning for the visit, who said India and the UAE are “making up for lost time” on their relationship.

However, officials refused to confirm reports in the media last week that the UAE government had already moved to seize property and assets of Mumbai blasts accused Dawood Ibrahim, who is known to have based much of his empire there.

Defence focus

“There is a lot we have on the table,” Navdeep Suri, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, told The National newspaper, while describing the upcoming dialogue. “Defence is important because we live in a fairly volatile period and in a region that has been particularly hit by that volatility. In that region, India and the UAE are islands of stability and there is a recognition that by working together, we can contribute a lot more to regional stability.”

Ahead of the visit of Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed, New Delhi is pulling out all the stops to showcase ties between the Gulf country and India, with the UAE Army expected to march with Indian soldiers down Rajpath on January 26.

The invitation itself is a rare exception for India, officials said, as the government has invited a leader who is not a head of state or head of government for the first time in 50 years. In 1965, the guest for the Republic Day parade, which was then a much smaller affair in Delhi’s National Stadium, was Pakistan’s Agriculture Minister Rana Abdul Hamid, but since then, India has reserved the honour only for Presidents, Prime Ministers and monarchs. The importance of Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed’s visit can be gauged by the fact that he was considered over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina, and despite the fact that the Crown Prince had already made a state visit to India less than a year ago in February 2016.

“The Crown Prince is an enlightened ruler who is a strong advocate of modernity,” a government source said, explaining that the Prince’s acceptance of the invitation is “also a recognition of PM (Modi’s) global stature.”

The unspoken significance of the UAE visit is about “ending Pakistan’s primacy” in the UAE. The Pakistani Army traditionally trained UAE defence forces and several Pakistani military officials like former ISI chief Gen. Shuja Pasha have served in advisory capacities to the UAE. Last week, Pakistan’s outgoing Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif was appointed the chief of the 39-country Saudi Arabia-led Islamic Military Alliance.

However, MEA officials say “things are changing” and were dismissive of questions on UAE-Pakistan ties, especially with regard to counter-terror cooperation. In 2015, there was a strain over Pakistan’s decision not to send troops to fight in Yemen as part of the Saudi-led ‘intervention’ against Houthi fighters, a coalition that UAE was a part of, and officials say concerns over Pakistan’s support to terror groups is a source of rising concern in the UAE. “Dawood Ibrahim can no longer travel to the UAE,” a senior government source asserted.