NEW DELHI: In what could be a first, the Black Cat commandos of the elite counter-terror force National Security Guards (NSG) is all set to participate in the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 next year.
The move comes after a meeting between the Union Home and Defence Ministries. Following the decision, the NSG has started short-listing a contingent of 60 commandos who will participate in the drill for the Republic Day, 2017, official sources said, adding this would be first time that the specialised paramilitary will take part in the annual celebrations.
Till now, only the contingents of Army's Special Forces participated at the parade on the Rajpath during Republic Day celebrations.
Like this year, contingents of some other paramilitary forces may not be included for participation in the parade for the January 26 celebrations.
The iconic Border Security Force camel and band contingent has been approved for participation as was the practice in the past.
Central Reserve Police Force’s anti-riot unit Rapid Action Force (RAF)and Central Industrial Security Force CISF contingents have also been included for participation in the celebrations. However, the inclusion of contingents of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Sasashtra Seema Bal(SSB) is yet to be decided, officials said.
The NSG, raised in 1984, is the federal contingency force to undertake counter-terror and anti-hijack operations in the country. Till now, the NSG was associated in a limited way with the Republic Day celebrations and just provided the crack teams for deployment around the parade route and sanitising the venue.