A special grand ceremony is underway on Wednesday night in Islamabad to mark Marka-i-Haq and Independence Day with senior civil and military leadership present on the occasion.
Among the senior dignitaries present at the Jinnah Sports Stadium event are President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, First Lady Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Inter Services Public Relations Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, federal and state ministers and foreign officials.
Parades were taken out by the different branches of the armed forces. Military personnel from Turkiye and Azerbaijan were also featured in the parade.
A fly-by was conducted by fighter jets deploying flares across the night sky.
The parade members also made formations spelling out freedom and Marka-i-Haq, and in the shape of the national flag.
State-run Radio Pakistan reported that PM Shehbaz will unveil the Marka-i-Haq Monument during the event.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal had said last month that this year’s Independence Day would be celebrated under the banner of “Marka-i-Haq” (Battle of Truth) to demonstrate the nation’s resilience, progress, and pride.
The Pakistan Army had named the period of conflict with India since the April 22 Pahalgam attack to the May 10 conclusion of Operation Bunyanum Marsoos as “Marka-i-Haq” in May.
The military confrontation between India and Pakistan came as the former blamed Islamabad for the April 22 Pahalgam attack without evidence. On the night of May 6-7, New Delhi launched a series of air strikes on Pakistan, resulting in civilian casualties. Both sides then exchanged missiles, which stretched over the week. It took a US-brokered ceasefire for both sides to finally drop their guns.
More to follow.