GLORIOUS TRADITION OF COURAGE, SERVICE

The roots of the

Indian Army date back to 1776.

It was the East

India Company government in

Kolkata that constituted the

Indian Army.

India has the world’s second-largest standing army.

Our country has been the largest contributor of troops to United Nations missions. So far, India has taken part in 43 peacekeeping missions with a total contribution exceeding 160,000 troops.

A significant number of police personnel have also been deployed. Army troops are also stationed at the

Siachen Glacier, which is about 5,000 meters above the sea level. The glacier is regarded as the world’s highest battlefield. Assam Rifles, formed in 1835, is our nation’s oldest paramilitary force. President’s Bodyguards, the oldest armoured regiment of the Indian Army, was established in 1773 and is currently based in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. A Bailey Bridge built by the Army in 1982 in the Ladakh valley, between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayas, is the world’s highest bridge of its kind.

The Indian Army has a horse cavalry regiment which is among the world’s last three such units.

Sepoy Kamal Ram of the Royal

Indian Army was the youngest Indian to receive the Victoria Cross for valour in World War II at the age of 19.