Two IAF units to be presented President`s Standards

Coimbatore: The city and outskirts will be brought under tight security from Monday in view of President Pranab Mukherjee`s visit to present President`s Standards to two squadrons at the IAF station in Sulur on December 18.

Mukherjee will arrive on Monday evening and stay overnight and after the function the next day, would leave for Kolkata, police said. Over 1,000 police personnel, including senior officials, are being drafted for security and tight vigil would be maintained, police sources said. The Standard would be presented to the Indian Air Force`s two important flying units--25 and 33 Squadrons--which are equipped with same type of Aircraft Antonova-32, commonly known as An32, the backbone of IAF`s transport fleet. The 25 Squadron, called the Himalayan Eagles, was formed in 1963 at Chandigarh and played a critical role in Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, Operation Parakrama and Operation Vijay/Kargil operations in 1999. In 1969, the squadron was awarded the Squadron Crest by the then President.In September 2011, the unit was relocated to Vadodara in South Western Sector and has the privilege to have served two frontline operating commands in IAF, a release said. The 33 Squadron has had the distinction of spearheading the largest ever formation in the history of IAF during the Tangail Operations in the 1971 war.In December 2004, when Tsunami caused havoc in the Andaman-Nicobar Islands, the Squadron flew extensively to carry out relief operations. Formed in 1963 in Guwahati, the Squadron flew out Gen Niazi, Commandant of the defeated Pak forces from Dhaka to Kolkata (then Calcutta) and flew in Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, first president of Independent Bangladesh to Dhaka, after cessation of hostilities. PTI