Passing Out Parade Held At Indian Military Academy Today

As many as 385 young officers will be joining the Indian Army as a passing out parade was organised at Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun on Saturday. 

This time, a total of 459 gentlemen cadets were part of the parade. Of which, 382 young officers will be joining the Indian Army and 77 military officers belonged to the nine friendly countries of Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Fiji, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Lesotho and Tajikistan. 

Lieutenant General Cherish Mathson, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Command, took the salute as the reviewing officer of the parade.

The prestigious 'Sword of Honour', which is awarded to the trainee who comes first in terms of order of merit during the training, was received by the young officer Ashat Raj.

The Gold Medal was awarded to Surendra Singh Bisht among the Indians. In regards to the foreign cadets, Shirzad Sarbaaz of Afghanistan won the gold medal.

Like last year, Uttar Pradesh topped the state-wise cadet division with a significant number of 72 cadets belonging from the state, followed by Bihar (46), and Haryana (40). This is an even greater number compared to last year's 53 cadets from UP, which marks an increasing number of individuals from the state and from the country in general faring well to serve in the Indian Army.

IMA now holds the record for giving 61,536 officers.