President releases stamp on Parachute Regiment's bicentenary

President Pranab Mukherjee today released a stamp to commemorate the bicentenary celebrations of Army's 3 Para (Special Forces) unit.
"Mukherjee released a commemorative stamp on the occasion of bicentenary celebrations of the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) at a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan," a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said.
The stamp has been released in honour of the significant contribution made by the unit in ensuring the security of the nation and to inspire its men to tackle challenges which have in the past and will in the future continue to bring glory to the nation, it said.

Defence Minister A K Antony, Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh and Director General Military Operations and Colonel of the Parachute Regiment Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia were also present on the occasion.
Raised on March 8, 1813, the 3 Para (SF) is one of the first battalions of the Army which served under the United Nations flag from November 1956 to November 1957 as part of Indian contingent of the United Nations Emergency Force in Egypt and Gaza Strip.
It took part in various operations before and during World War �I and during World War �II it participated in operations in the Middle East and Burma.

During Jammu and Kashmir Operations, it took part in the famous battle of Shelatang on November 7, 1947.
The battalion has been awarded with 4 Mahaveer Chakras, one Kirti Chakra, 15 Veer Chakras and five Shaurya Chakras.