Full dress rehearsal of Pakistan Day Parade held

Islamabad: Full dress rehearsal of the Pakistan Day Parade was held at the Shakarparian Parade Ground in Islamabad on Sunday.

The rehearsal was attended by all the three defence forces. foot columns of Army, Navy, Pakistan Air Force, Frontier Corps, Northern Light Infantry, Mujahid Force and other services. The parade is organised by Joint Staff Headquarters in Rawalpindi, which oversees the three armed forces of Pakistan.

Scores of fighter aircraft of PAF, Pakistan Navy and helicopters of Army Aviation are rehearsing the flypast for the final day.

A contingent of China’s People's Liberation Army was also part of the rehearsal parade as special guest.

Strict security measures were in place in twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi to avoid any untoward incident.

The military parade was resumed in 2015 after a gap of seven years and was seen as a manifestation of the military's show of strength in the wake of a shocking attack in 2014 on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, which left 150 dead, including 132 schoolchildren. The Pakistan Day commemorates the passage of the Lahore Resolution on March 23, 1940, under which the Muslims of the British Indian Empire demanded a separate nation, as well as the declaration of Pakistan as an Islamic republic on the same day in 1956.