Navy Day celebrations in Thiruvananthapuram: Draupadi Murmu as chief guest

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: This year's Navy Day celebrations will be held on December 3 at Shankhumukham. President Draupadi Murmu will be the chief guest. The aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, warships, submarines and fighter jets will also participate. A VIP gallery with a capacity of 700 people and seating for 10,000 people has been set up for the celebrations. Two lakh people will watch the military exercises. Defense attaches of foreign countries will also be present.

Navy Day is celebrated every year on December 4 to commemorate the victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war in Karachi. The celebration was brought forward a day because Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting Delhi on the 4th for the India-Russia annual summit. There are indications that he will meet the President.

The day will be hosted by Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi. For the first time in history, the Navy will arrive in the capital of Kerala with state-of-the-art equipment, including warships. There will also be a musical performance by the Southern Naval Command Band at Nishagandhi on the 26th at 5.30 pm.

Ships will arrive in the capital from December 1. An approximately 370-meter artificial shore was built at Shankhumukham beach, which was expedited with a ₹14 crore state government allocation for overall beach protection and renovation. VIPs can watch the sea and sky exercises from the pavilions here. The artificial beach was built by removing sand, placing huge stones, pouring concrete on top of it, and then spreading sand. The celebration, which was usually held in Delhi, was shifted to other places from 2022. The day was celebrated in Visakhapatnam, Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, and Puri in Odisha in previous years.