A joint military parade to mark Pakistan Day is being held at Parade Ground near the Shakarparian hills in Islamabad, as the nation celebrates the day with zeal and fervour on Friday.
National anthem was played after the arrival of President Mamnoon Hussain, the chief guest of the ceremony. He has inspected the parade.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Defence Minister Khurrum Dastagir, Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Naval Chief Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi and Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee Zubair Mehmood Hayat are also witnessing the parade.
Guest of honour at the ceremony, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, has also arrived at the Prade Ground.
Pakistan Day commemorates the passing of the Lahore Resolution on March 23, 1940, when the All-India Muslim League demanded a separate nation for the Muslims of the British Indian Empire.
The day dawned with a 31-gun salute in Islamabad while provincial capitals welcomed the day with 21-gun salutes. Special prayers were offered in mosques after Fajr prayers for the progress, prosperity and solidarity of the country and national flag was hoisted at all major government buildings.
Mobile phone services have been suspended in the capital, where a military parade is being held.
The Pakistan Day parade had resumed in 2015 after a gap of seven years and was seen as a manifestation of the military’s show of strength in the wake of a shocking attack in 2014 on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, which left 150 dead, including 132 schoolchildren.
Change of guard ceremonies were held at the mausoleums of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi and Dr Allama Iqbal in Lahore.
Air Commodore Syed Sabahat Hasan was the chief guest at the ceremony held at Iqbal’s mausoleum in Lahore where Pakistan Airforce troops took over guard duty.
