NE NEWS SERVICE
GUWAHATI, APR 8
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday flew a sortie on the Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft from Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam. Murmu taking her maiden sortie on the fighter jet has becoming the second woman president to fly in a warplane.
President Droupadi Murmu took a historic sortie in a Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam. President Murmu is the third President and second woman President to undertake such a sortie. pic.twitter.com/DozRAWm3Yp
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) April 8, 2023
Droupadi Murmu, who is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, flew for approximately 30 minutes covering Brahmaputra and Tezpur valley with a view of Himalayas before returning to the air force station, the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted.
Murmu is on a three-day visit to Assam from April 6 to 8 and was accorded Guard of Honour upon arrival at the Tezpur Air Force Station.
Elaborating on the ‘exhilarating’ experience, Murmu wrote in the visitor’s book, “It is a matter of pride that India’s defence capabilities have expanded immensely to cover all the frontiers of land, air and sea.” At a height of about two kms above sea level and 800 kms speed per hour, the ‘fighter jet was flown by Group Capt Naveen Kumar, CO of 106 Squadron’, the President’s official Twitter handle wrote.
Although Murmu is not the first President to make a sortie in a fighter aircraft, Tezpur air force station hosted a President’s sortie for the first time. In 2009, former president Pratibha Patil had flown in the frontline Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet from the Pune air force base.
APJ Abdul Kalam and Ramnath Kovind had also made similar sorties in Sukhoi 30 fighter aircrafts at the IAF station in Pune, Maharashtra, while serving as the Presidents of India.
President Murmu on Friday took part in Gaj Utsav at Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) in Assam to mark 30 years of Project Elephant. She enjoyed a jeep safari inside the Kaziranga National Park’s central range before launching the ‘Gaj Utsav-2023’ (elephant festival) on the second day of her Assam visit, officials said.
Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma were also present on the occasion.
President Murmu also flagged off the ‘Mount Kanchenjunga Expedition-2023’ at Guwahati.
