Two-day Indian Military Heritage Festival to begin in Delhi on October 21

New Delhi: A two-day festival showcasing the heritage and culture of India's armed forces will be held on October 21-22 in Delhi.

The Indian Military Heritage Festival will be hosted by the United Service Institution (USI) of India, a think tank set up in the 19th century.

The first-of-its-kind festival is being organised in association with a news organisation at Manekshaw Centre, the USI said in a statement.

"With 2022-2023 being the year of India's leadership of the G20, the USI is proud to be working in tandem with the government of India's strategic policies to affirm our position as a global powerhouse, a truly vibrant democracy, and a rising power that is working for the development of all countries in the Global South," it said.

Despite a long and glorious military history and strategic culture going back many centuries, the general public is "largely unaware of the different facets of India's military history, heritage", the think tank said.

The festival seeks to "address this gap" in the national discourse and cultural calendar, it added.

Its activities will be driven towards enhancing understanding of the country's rich military heritage and traditions; contemporary security and strategy concerns; and the push to achieve self-reliance in military capability through the Atmanirbhar Bharat programmes of the government of India, the statement said.

Through informed sessions ranging from discussions on indigenous historical knowledge systems, India and the world wars, post-Independence challenges and understandings of war and conflict, analysing war through the lens of fiction and media, the Indian Military Heritage Festival will be one of its kind, catering to audiences from all walks of life, the USI said.

The festival intends to engage global as well as Indian think tanks, institutions, corporations, public and private sector undertakings, non-profit organisations, academics, and research scholars who have been working on topics related to India's national security, foreign policy, military history, as well as experts in military heritage, the statement said.

"Participants of special sessions will include the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff, as well as Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa. A host of eminent scholars and authors will be gracing the occasion with their presence and their insights spread across different panels," the statement said.

Some of the highlights of the festival will be military band performances by tri-service bands, including the Army, Navy and Indian Air Force symphony bands, it said.

An exhibition to highlight and celebrate some of the milestones and achievements in India's military history will also be organised in collaboration with the National Museum, the statement said.

A cultural gala evening will be held with a special dance performance by Trikayaa Dance Foundation, which will incorporate traditional and martial dance forms to narrate heroic stories of unheard sagas and valour.