NEW DELHI, 27 January 2008 — India celebrated its 59th Republic Day yesterday with Pratibha Patil, the country’s first woman president, unfurling the national flag and taking the customary 21-gun salute at Rajpath. It was on Jan.26, 1950 that the country declared itself a republic with its constitution coming into force. Amid tight security, the country’s military prowess and the rich cultural heritage were showcased as troops and cultural groups marched down Rajpath.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was the guest of honor at the parade. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held wide-ranging late night talks Friday with Sarkozy to shore up strategic ties between India and France. The two nations signed a pact on nuclear power cooperation to go into effect as soon as New Delhi is allowed to enter the global civilian atomic energy market. They have also pledged to boost military ties.
The parade for the first time displayed the army’s Israeli-made artillery. Israel in 2005 became India’s No. 2 arms supplier, pushing France into the third place in sales. India, which has fought three wars with Pakistan and one with China since 1947, is the biggest arms buyer among emerging nations amid estimates it could spend up to $50 billion between now and 2018 to upgrade its 1.23-million strong military.
Pratibha, 72, in a speech ahead of the celebrations, highlighted India’s new-found economic muscle on the back of a blistering nine-percent growth rate, and sought closer ties with the international community. “The impressive strides of the Indian economy have resulted in the emergence of India as a powerful player in the global economy,” the president said. “India is committed to establishing ties of friendship and cooperation with all countries, and India’s engagement with the world is intensifying both in the economic and political fields,” she said.
Pratibha also said New Delhi would not tolerate armed insurgencies on its soil. “The continuing terrorist attacks are reminders of the need to take collective action,” she said.
India is battling insurgencies in Himalayan Kashmir, where separatists are fighting New Delhi’s rule, and in the far-flung northeast, where a host of militant groups are fighting for independence.
In Kashmir people stayed indoors and businesses were closed in Srinagar, the state’s main city, after separatists called a strike to mark what they say is a “black day.”
“Indian forces have let loose a reign of terror across Kashmir,” Kashmir’s separatist alliance, All Parties Hurriyat (freedom) Conference, said in a statement.
Separatist rebel groups in the northeast also called for a 24-hour strike across the region in protest against what they say is “forceful occupation of our land by New Delhi.”
Soldiers killed two separatist guerrillas in the region’s oil- and tea-rich Assam state on Friday night.
In the central state of Chhattisgarh, which is the epicenter of a Maoist insurgency, thousands of extra police were deployed in the worst-hit Bastar region after a large arms cache was discovered earlier in the week.
— Additional input from agencies
