Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu flags in IAF-UWM car rally at Tawang

New Delhi: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Wednesday flagged in the Indian Air Force-Uttarakhand War Memorial car rally at Tawang, which has covered a distance of 7,000 km in about a month.

As per the initial plan, the rally was supposed to be flagged in by the defence minister, Rajnath Singh and Union minister Kiren Rijiju. 

In his speech, Khandu praised the armed forces for protecting the motherland and hailed IAF Air Warriors and Army’s senior officers who cruised 7000 km from Siachen to Tawang intending to attract youth to join the armed forces.

Further, the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister appreciated Uttarakhand War Memorial chairman Tarun Vijay for conceiving the idea.

Led by Wing Commander Vijay Prakash Bhatt, the rally which started from Thoise and culminated at Tawang, traversed through Srinagar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Lucknow, Darbhanga, Siliguri, Hasimara and Guwahati. 

During the course of its journey, Indian Air Force chief ACM AP Singh also participated in the rally and led the team from Hasimara to Guwahati on October 23 — 24.

Conducted on the occasion of the 92nd anniversary of the IAF, the rally also aimed to honour the brave air warriors and encourage youth to join the forces, especially the IAF.

Asianet News was the media partner and covered the rally extensively throughout their journey while the auto major Maruti provided Jimny vehicles and other logistics support to the participants.  

On the occasion, Tawang’s MLA Namgey Tsering, Commander of 190 Mountain Brigade Brigadier Vipul Singh Rajput and several state dignitaries were present to witness the historic car rally, which was being flagged in.

On October 1, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and IAF Chief ACM AP Singh gave a warm send-off to the rally for Thoise near Siachen glacier in Ladakh. It was formally flagged off from Thoise Air Force Station on October 8, on the occasion of 92nd IAF Day. 

Significance of Tawang, the border district with China

Being a land-locked region, Tawang has Tibet (China) in the north, Bhutan in the southwest and Sela ranges separate from West Kameng District in the East (India). It is a kind of tri-junction.  

It offers strategic advantages via geographical contiguity with Bhutan and access to Southeast Asian markets. In case Tawang is occupied by China, then Bhutan would be surrounded by China’s PLA which would be detrimental to India’s security.  Tawang would also provide easy access to China to the Siliguri Corridor which is a location of imperative strategic importance that connects northeasts with the rest of the country.

Situated at a height of 3500, Tawang is a major holy site for Tibetan Buddhists as it was the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama.

After escaping from China’s People's Liberation Army from Tibet on March 30, 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama entered Indian territory through this region and also spent days at the Tawang Monastery before reaching Tezpur in Assam on April 18, 1959.

Indian Air Force — Uttarakhand War Memorial car rally passing through newly constructed Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh.

Part of Balipara-Charduar-Tawang road, the #SelaTunnel reduces the travel time by 1 hour from Tezpur to Tawang.

It is having all weather connectivity. pic.twitter.com/B0Gfe3jamu

— Anish Singh (@anishsingh21) October 31, 2024