Expressing gratitude to all corona warriors in the country, India's top most military officer Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said that the Indian Air Force will conduct a flypast from Srinagar to Thiruvananthapuram and another from Dibrugarh to Kutch in Gujarat on May 3. The flypast will include both fighter jets and transport aircraft.
"During the flypast, the aircraft will be showering flower petals at some places," Gen. Rawat said, adding that "Our nation has shown resilience."
On Tuesday, over a dozen aircraft of the US military flight squadrons had paid tribute to coronavirus healthcare staff with a ceremonial flyover of COVID-19 epicenter New York City.
Rawat said that entire world is fighting the menace of COVID-19 and like everybody else, our nation has also been impacted.
The Indian Army will conduct mountain band displays along with some of the COVID hospitals on May 3 as expression of gratitude to COVID warriors.
The plan of action was finalized at a meeting presided over by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh with the three Service chiefs, CDS and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval earlier in the day.
Army Chief General M.M. Naravane said that there has been no problem in dealing with the coronavirus issue. "So far, the Army has had only 14 cases of which five have been cured and they have joined their duty," Gen Naravane said.
The Army chief also said there has been an increase in infiltration attempts from Pakistan. "There will be no let up in our operation against terrorism or infiltration. The terrorists killed in encounters are handed over to the civil administration and they do the needful," Gen Naravane added.
Touching upon the issue of Aarogya Setu mobile application being used for spying, General Naravane said, "We have seen that there is an attempt to misuse it. We have issued an advisory that only authorized application should be downloaded and used."
On the issue of evacuation of stranded Indians abroad, Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhaduria said that the transport aircraft are on standby and will undertake the task when assigned. He said that around 30 transport aircraft are ready to fly back Indian citizens.
He said that the IAF has taken all the precautions and so far no case of coronavirus has been reported in the force. "But we'll will not lower our guard," Bhaduria said.
Navy Chief Admiral Karambir said, "We have a large diaspora. Our ships are ready. We are fully ready. It can be a continues process."
Earlier in the day, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it was decided that the Indian air space should be effectively used in such a manner that the flying time is reduced benefiting the travelling public and helping airlines to save costs, in close co-operation with the Department of Military Affairs.
Modi held a comprehensive meeting to review the strategies that could help in making India’s civil aviation sector more efficient.
