New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: Celebrating the 71st Republic Day on Sunday, a grand parade was organised at News Delhi’s Rajpath. The parade showcased India’s culture, social heritage and defence capabilities. This year, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attended the parade as chief guest.

In the parade, 22 tableaux -- 16 from states and Union territories and six from various ministries and departments-- depicted India’s rich cultural heritage, economic progress and military capabilities at the Rajpath.

Here are the major highlights of the 71st Republic Day:

India showcases its military capabilities

The Indian Armed Forces on Sunday took the central stage at the parade at Rajpath. The Indian Armed Forces showed their strength and its war capabilities. The Indian Army showed its main battle tank Bhishma and Infantry Combat Vehicle Ballway Machine Pikate. The Dhanush gun system, commanded by Captain Mrigank Bharadwaj, was also a part of the parade for the first time.

The Indian Air Force, on the other hand, displayed the Chinook and Apache helicopters, along with a tableau of the Rafale fighter jet, in addition to tableaux depicting Akash and Astra missiles was shown.

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The Indian Navy showcased its assets like Boeing P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft and the Kolkata Class Destroyer and the Kalvari Class submarine at the Republic Day Parade on Sunday.

The fore part of the Naval tableau showcased the might and fire power of Navy in all three dimensions viz surface, sub-surface and air portrayed through state-of-the-art assets.

Captain Tania Shergill leads all-men marching contingent at Gantantra Diwas parade

The 26-year-old Captain Tania Shergill, a fourth generation officer with the Army’s Corps of Signals, led an all-men contingent during the ceremonial Republic Day parade at the Rajpath. This was only the second time in a row that a woman officer led the Corps of Signals Contingent.

Shergill, the parade adjutant, broke the glass ceiling by becoming the first female to lead an all men contingent at the Army Day Parade held on January 15, winning the hearts of innumerable people across the country.

DRDO displays A-SAT weapon system

The DRDO Anti-Satellite (A-SAT) Weapon System was on display at Rajpath. With space becoming a vital dimension of any country's economic and military superiority, A-SAT (Anti-Satellite) weapons play a critical role in providing the necessary strategic deterrence.

In March last year, the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) launched 'Mission Shakti', India's first A-SAT mission and demonstrated its anti-satellite technology.

Twenty-two tableaux showed India’s culture and heritage

22 tableaux, 16 from states and union territories and the rest from various ministries and departments, showed India’s culture and social heritage. They also includes ‘Start-Up India’ and ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’, as part of the work carried out by various government ministries.

The states and departments that were a part of the parade were Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

Jammu and Kashmir, which participated in the parade for the first time as a Union Territory, had the ‘Back to Village’ programme as theme for its tableau. The 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in 2019 was the theme of the Punjab's tableau in the parade. Gujarat's architectural wonder Rani Ki Vav was the centrepiece of the state's tableau, complemented with folk culture and dances performed by artistes.

How the parade ended?

The parade ended with a ‘trishul formation’ from the IAF’s Apache helicopters and Su-30 MKIs. This was followed by a ‘Vic’ formation of Chinook helicopters. After this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the people who arrived at Rajghat to witness India’s grand parade.

(With PTI inputs)