BY : The Hindu

One of the most decorated infantry regiments of the Indian Army, the Grenadiers, got affiliated to the Navy’s multi-role guided missile frigate, INS Beas, in a glittering ceremony on Friday onboard the warship docked here.

Lt. Gen. S.S. Dhillon, the Colonel Commandant of the Grenadiers and Rear Admiral Anil Chopra, Flag Officer Commanding, Western Fleet, signed the Charter of Affiliation as the Naval Band and the Grenadiers’ bagpipers played martial tunes.

The armed forces have the tradition of affiliating their units for better camaraderie and “espirit de corps.” But the modern military trend of all three services fighting wars jointly has added an operational aspect to the tradition.

INS Rajput was the first warship to be affiliated to the Rajput Regiment. This was followed by several such affiliations, including aircraft carrier, INS Viraat ‘marrying’ the Garhwal Regiment, INS Ranjit coupling with the Punjab Regiment, INS Ranvijay with the Dogras and INS Ranveer with the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles.

Welcoming the gathering of past and present officers of the Army and Navy, Admiral Chopra said that the affiliation of the Grenadiers and the Beas would further promote understanding of mutual operational needs of the two services.

Gen. Dhillon noted that both the Grenadiers and the Beas (predecessor of the present one) had participated in pre and post independence wars and had won battle honours for the country.

He was confident that the trend would continue in future.