The worldwide COVID pandemic has unwantedly altered a lot of things this year. The deadly virus even had an impact on the age-old customs of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. It has happened for the first time in history that three cadets of Vietnam passed out of the academy and left for their homeland about a month before the scheduled Passing Out Parade. The Piping Ceremony of the aforesaid cadets took place at the IMA’s Chetwode Building on Wednesday.
Gentlemen Cadets from not only India but several countries abroad are trained in the Indian Military Academy at Doon. At present, 208 foreign cadets from 11 friendly countries are undergoing training at the academy. The three cadets from Vietnam were also among these foreign cadets who were to be part of the Passing Out Parade in December. But at the request of the Vietnam Embassy, these Vietnamese cadets had a Piping Ceremony before the scheduled POP next month.
It is noteworthy that several Vietnamese cadets have been receiving training at different military training institutes in the country, and the Vietnam Embassy wanted all of these cadets to return to their homeland together. The cadets are being sent to Vietnam under the Vande Bharat Mission.
Earlier in June, the Passing Out Parade also saw many changes due to COVID. Let’s see how the POP in December turns out to be.
