Beating the Retreat ceremony: MoS Singh avers India becomes 4th nation to hold drone show

India magnanimously celebrated its entry in the 73rd year of being a Republic by achieving new milestones. Marking the end of the week-long celebrations of Republic Day on Saturday, the Beating Retreat ceremony was held gloriously, during which as many as 1000 drones had lit up the Delhi sky to put together a 10 minutes drone show dedicated to the country. With this India became the fourth country in the world to perform a synchronised drone show with such grandeur. 

Prior to India, the UK, Russia, and China were the three nations who have made the sky their platform to perform using drones. 

India becomes fourth nation to hold drone show 

Union Minister Jitendra Singh called it a matter of pride as indigenously developed drones sponsored by the Ministry of Science has been able to achieve the feat. "It is a matter of pride that for the first time, 1,000 drones will light up the sky during the beating retreat ceremony. India will become the 4th country in the world after UK, Russia and China to achieve this feat, " Singh said.

Lauding the developers of the drone- Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) alumni, Union Minister continued, “I am also happy to share that the entire funding was done by the Ministry of Science and Technology. IIT alumni have worked on it for 6 months.”

For the first time ever, the Beating Retreat ceremony featured a 10-minute-long drone show. From the map of India, the national animal and flower, several other formations were drawn to making stunning formations. Hordes of drones had lit up and changed colours. 

Beating Retreat ceremony

Beating Retreat is a centuries-old military tradition dating from the days when troops disengaged from the battle at sunset. As soon as the buglers sounded the retreat, the troops ceased fighting, sheathed their arms, and withdrew from the battlefield. 

Beating Retreat marks the end of nearly week-long festivities of Republic Day, which used to begin on January 24, but this year, began on January 23, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. PM Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh were among the many dignitaries present at the ceremony. 

(Image: ANI)