Indian Army launches adventure sports expedition from Chennai

CHENNAI - Aimed at fostering the spirit of adventure and attracting the youth towards the defence forces, Indian Army launched a paragliding, cycling and sailing expedition from Chennai on Wednesday.

Lieutenant General Pradeep Khanna, General Officer Commanding, Southern Command, flagged off the 30-member expedition.

The expedition will travel northwards along eastern coast, starting from Chennai, and reach Visakhapatnam on March 8.

Khanna said that the adventure sports activities would motivate the young generation to join the army.

“This expedition is a wonderful idea. We are using all the three things of nature, - the air, the sea and the land. This is very adventurous for the boys. They will go and meet a lot of ex-servicemen along the coastline who are there and tell them that we are there for them. They gave their best years to us and we will love to take care of them,” he added.

“If you see, from Chennai to Vishakhapatnam, the coastline…there is a nil presence of Army, so we want to spread the awareness of the army and motivate youth especially the college students to join the army and above all spread the spirit of the adventure. This is our aim. So, for this, we are conducting the para-motors, sailing and cycling,” said Major Vimal, commander of the gliding expedition.

Indian Army periodically conducts public contact programmes across the country to attract young people to a career in the Army. (ANI)