Marching, band contingents from Indonesia to take part in R-Day Parade

New Delhi: A marching contingent and a band contingent from Indonesia will take part in the 76th Republic Day Parade where Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will be the chief guest, the defence ministry said on Monday.

The ceremonial parade at Kartavya Path will be heralded by 300 cultural artistes playing 'Sare Jahan Se Achha' on musical instruments representing different parts of the country, it said.

Ensemble of instruments includes a wide mix of wind and percussion instruments, like 'shehnai', 'sundari', 'nadaswaram', 'been', 'mashak been', flute, 'karadi majalu', 'mohuri', 'sankha', 'tutari', and 'dhol', among others, the ministry said in a statement.

Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh told reporters in Delhi that "a 160-member marching contingent and 190-member band contingent from Indonesia" will take part in the parade at Kartavya Path on January 26, along with the contingents of Indian armed forces.

This year, 31 tableaux -- 16 from various states and Union territories and 15 central government ministries, departments and organisations -- will participate, showcasing the theme 'Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas'.

After the National Anthem, balloons with banners of the official logo of the 75th year of the Indian Constitution will be released. The event will conclude with a flypast by 47 aircraft, the ministry said.

The parade will begin in the morning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying a wreath at the National War Memorial.

"The President will arrive at Kartavya Path in a ceremonial buggy and take the salute during a ceremonial march past, which will include units from the armed forces, paramilitary forces, auxiliary civil Forces, the NCC, and the NSS," the statement said.

This Republic Day will also marks 75the anniversary of the Constitution coming into effect.

The Constitution was adopted on November 26, 1949 and came into effect on January 26, 1950 when India turned republic.

The 75 years of enactment of the Constitution of India is the focus of Republic Day celebrations, the ministry said.

Two tableaux during the parade will showcase the celebration of 75 years of the Constitution. Floral decorations, view cutters will be depicting the theme. Balloons at the end of the programme will be released with a message, it added.

Indonesian President Subianto will be the chief guest at India's Republic Day celebrations, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had announced on January 16.

Subianto will visit India from January 25 to 26 in his first trip to the country as president.

An all-India school band competition has been organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Education. In this event, a total 697 school bands (nearly 12,857 students) has participated, and grand finale of this competition will be held at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, it said.

The finalist students have been invited as special guests to witness the Republic Day ceremony. Among the finalist teams, one girl team of Jharkhand will be performing in front of the Presidential dais, and two teams will be performing along with the Republic Day Parade at Kartavya Path, near Vijay Chowk, the statement said.