President says India has its fate in Army

Pune, June 17: President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said that in the rapidly changing environment, the nation's faith in the armed forces has remained intact.

"In the rapidly changing environment, one factor which has not changed is the faith reposed in the armed forces by the entire nation," Mukherjee said while addressing the convocation ceremony of the College of Military Engineering (CME) here.

In all, seventy-one M.Tech and B.Tech students passed out from the premier technical and tactical training institution of the Indian Army, established in 1943.

Mukherjee said that the Indian Army engineers had traditionally left their mark on prestigious national projects, "be it oil pipeline at Siachen, prestigious naval bases and airfields in the North East or roads cutting through the Himalayan ranges".

"I am sure that each and every one of you will follow the footsteps of your illustrious predecessors and shall live up to the high standards expected of you," he said.