Officer Cadets trained under Pak Army Major graduate from Sandhurst

LONDON: The batch of officer cadets trained under Major Uqbah Hadeed Malik, the first ever Pakistani instructor at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, walked up the historic stairs of Old College building and graduated to become Second Lieutenants in the British Army on Saturday.

Major Uqbah is not only the first officer from Pakistan but the first Muslim to have achieved this honour to be a Permanent Staff at Sandhurst for a complete tenure of two years. He was selected to represent Pakistan at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2015 as a Platoon Commander/Instructor to train 31 British and other international officer cadets in order to commission in the Royal Army as officers.

He previously joined The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as an Officer Cadet in 2006 and was awarded the Overseas Sword of Honour which is awarded to the Officer Cadet who achieves the best overall results in Military, Academic and practical studies. Major Uqbah returned to Pakistan to join 1st Sind Regiment and remained deployed in various areas of the country.

The Chief Guest who is referred to as the Sovereign’s Representative was Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, Camila Parker Bowles.

A cadet under his training from Afghanistan won the Overseas Sword of Honour.

In the event, Syed Ibne-Abbas, Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK was invited as Pakistan’s guest representative.

Speaking on the occasion, Ibn-e-Abbas congratulated Major Uqbah on his historic achievement in excellence; he said that there remains no short cut to achieve success than competence and perseverance.

The first military academy in the United Kingdom was established in 1720 at Woolwich and granted Royal status in 1841. This Academy was moved to Camberley at a town called Sandhurst in 1947 and turned out to be known what today is The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Sandhurst’s stated aim is to be the National centre of excellence for the leadership of the United Kingdom and has produced numerous leaders in the world.