Hasimara squadrons to get Presidential honour

Jayanta Gupta,TNN | Nov 13, 2015, KOLKATA: Two fighter squadrons based at Air Force Station Hasimara in north Bengal will receive the President's Colours/Standards on November 28. 

Both these squadrons had played crucial roles in the 1971 War and were among the first to convert to Mig-27ML ground-attack fighters between 1985 and 1990. While 22 Squadron, then flying out of Dum Dum, shot down three Sabres over Jessore in 1971, 222 Squadron won battle honours and a Mahavir Chakra and three Vir Chakras in the Bangladesh Liberation War. 

"On November 28, President Pranab Mukherjee will travel to Hasimara and present the President's Standards to the two squadrons. The ceremony will be unlike anything Hasimara has seen. There will be flypasts by Su-30 and Mig-27 fighters and Mi-17 helicopters. The Surya Kiran team will put up an aerobatics display," a senior IAF officer said. 

Hasimara is located strategically near the India-Bhutan border and the two squadrons are a very potent deterrence in this sensitive regions the closest IAF base to Chumbi Valley — the tri-junction between Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet. "This is where Hasimara has a crucial role to play. The MiG 27s have been stationed here with the specific purpose of engaging ground targets," the officer added.