Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hoisted the national flag at the Red Fort for the 11th consecutive time on the occasion of Independence Day. On Independence Day, as he began his first speech of his third term, he surpassed former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Manmohan Singh had hoisted the tricolor 10 times from the ramparts of the Red Fort during 2004 to 2014. In this case, Modi has reached the third position after former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
Nehru had the honour of hoisting the tricolour from the Red Fort 17 times and Indira Gandhi 16 times. Before hoisting the tricolour at the Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi went to Rajghat and paid tribute to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. On reaching the Red Fort, the Prime Minister was welcomed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth and Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane. Defence Secretary Aramane introduced the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Delhi Area, Lieutenant General Bhavnish Kumar to the Prime Minister. After this, the GOC of Delhi Area took Modi to the saluting dais, where the joint inter-service and Delhi Police guard gave a general salute to the Prime Minister. After this, the Prime Minister inspected the guard of honour.
There are 24 personnel in the guard force
The Guard of Salute contingent for the Prime Minister comprised one officer and 24 men each from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Delhi Police. This year the Indian Navy is the coordinating force. The Guard of Salute was commanded by Commander Arun Kumar Mehta. The Army contingent in the Prime Minister’s Guard was commanded by Major Arjun Singh. The Naval contingent was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Gulia Bhavesh NK and the Air Force contingent was commanded by Squadron Leader Akshara Uniyal. The Delhi Police contingent was commanded by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Anurag Dwivedi.
Flag hoisting after guard inspection
After inspecting the Guard of Honour, the Prime Minister proceeded to the ramparts of the Red Fort where he was received by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Choudhary. The GoC Delhi Area escorted the Prime Minister to the dais on the ramparts to hoist the national flag. (Input- PTI language)
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