77th Pakistan Day celebrated: President brings CPEC under the spotlight

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain said Pakistan wanted peace and friendship with the whole world, specially with its neighbours, but India’s irresponsible attitude and continuing violations of the Line of Control and Working Boundary have jeopardized peace of the region.

Addressing as the chief guest at the Pakistan Day Parade ceremony, Mamnoon Hussain said Pakistan is ready for dialogue with India and wants resolution of the Kashmir dispute, the unfinished agenda of the partition.

President said Pakistan enjoys cooperation in its development of its sincere friends, especially China. He pointed out that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) opened the doors of development not only for Pakistan, but for the whole region.

“The country’s conventional and nuclear capabilities are meant to ensure global and regional peace”, he said, adding that the nation will not hesitate in rendering any sacrifice for defence, security, development, and prosperity of the country.

In his special message for Pakistan Day, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, called upon the entire nation to “Let us pledge today to clean “our Pakistan” from fasaadis.”

The 77th Pakistan Day was celebrated under tight security across the country with national zeal. The day dawned with a 31-gun salute in the federal capital and 21-gun salutes in the provincial capitals.

The important feature of the day was the joint military parade, which was held at the Parade Ground near the Shakarparian hills. This is the first time that tri services of People’s Liberation Army of China, contingents from Saudi Special Force and the Turkish band, popularly known as ‘Mehteran’ participated in the military parade.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Zakaullah, Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sohail Aman and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, also witnessed the parade. Chief of South African National Defence Force General Solly Zacharia also attended the ceremony.

The ceremony commenced with the singing of the national anthem, after which the president inspected the parade from a jeep.

Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, led the flypast of the Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy aviation in an F-16 plane. Later, the formations of F-16, JF-17 thunder, Mirage, AWACs, P3-C Orion and F-7 presented salute to the chief guest by flying over the dais during the ceremony.

Troops which took part in the parade included contingents of the Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Air Force, 18 Punjab Regiment, 21 Frontier Force Regiment, 10 Northern Light Infantry Regiment, 760 Mujahid Battalion, Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Rangers Punjab, paratroopers, Pakistan police (represented by the Islamabad Police), Tri Services Lady Officers, Tri Services Armed Forces Nursing Services, Boy Scouts, Pakistan Girl Guides, Special Services Group (SSG) and bodyguards of President.

Mechanised columns of Armoured Corps, Artillery, Army Air Defence, Signals, Engineers, Army Strategic Force Command also participated. Floats displaying the culture of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir took part in the ceremony. Para-gliders stunned the crowd with their exhilarating skills.