Indian Navy contingent marches at Republic Day 2017, in Delhi

From the archive record

Indian Navy contingent parade on 68th Republic Day at Rajpath in Delhi. The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India serves as Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the navy. The Indian Navy is the fifth largest in the world. It played an important role in India's victory in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War. The Indian Navy can trace its lineage back to the East India Company's Marine which was founded in 1612 to protect British merchant shipping in the region. In 1793 the East India Company established its rule over eastern part of the Indian subcontinent i.e. Bengal, but it was not until 1830 that the colonial navy became known as Her Majesty's Indian Navy. In 1858,