Procedure For Foreign Candidates In And After NDA
Joining Indian Armed Forces is a matter of pride for an Individual, be it an Indian citizen or a foreign national who wishes to be a part of it. If you are a foreign national like PIO or NRI, then the procedure of getting into the esteemed institution of NDA becomes a little difficult and painstaking but not impossible.
You might be an Indian Origin foreign national who wants to join the esteemed institution but to do the same here are the procedures one needs to keep in mind.
The Process of getting into the Indian Armed Forces through NDA
The very first thing to keep in mind is that any person who is a foreign citizen cannot be a part of the Indian Armed Forces. But if the individual is a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) or a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) then it is essential to have a valid Indian Passport which supports his claim to be an Indian citizen.
One has to appear for an entrance examination to get into the National Defence Academy and should have completed the examination of Class 12th or any such equivalent examination.
A combination of Mathematics and Physics is essential for candidates who want to go for Navy or Air-force and there is no such essentiality for people who want to enlist in Army. There is an online option of filling up the application forms for the desirable candidates.
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Unmarried Indian males aged from 16 years 6 months to 19 years are eligible to sit for the written examination. If the person is a refugee from the neighboring countries of Bhutan, Tibet or Nepal before 1st of April 1962 and their family has migrated to India before the coveted date and have been residing permanently in India since then one can apply for being a part of NDA.
If such a migrant has the further plan of continuing as a citizen of India then he also can be a part of the NDA. Further, if there are any other desirable people who belong from any of the neighboring countries and some nations of East Africa such as Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania and are of Indian Origin and have migrated to those countries can also be a part of NDA if they wish to permanently settle in India. But they have to provide for an eligibility certificate by the Government of India to suffice this need.
If anybody who belongs to the Gorkha community of Nepal, then there is no need for them to show such an eligibility certificate.
Life of the foreign candidates on Campus and after
You being a foreign candidate don’t change anything in NDA and your life after that. Just like any other NDA cadet you get to live the life that is provided on the campus.
The campus life is tough but disciplined. It has everything from getting up early in the morning to a host lot of tough to a variety of physical exercises lined up.
Campus life is different, you not only take care of your academics and prepare for your physical tests but you also learn chivalry, honesty, loyalty, discipline, determination, courage and above all a never-back-down attitude.
The bonds that happen in these three years are for a lifetime and that in turn teaches an individual the unofficial motto of the Indian Armed Forces, you before me.
Read: Complete NDA Selection Process
Once you are done with the training part in NDA you can Defence service choose to go for any of the three wings of the Indian Armed Forces of your choice just like other cadets and that won’t be a barrier for you being a foreign candidate.
Some prominent foreign candidates who have been alumni of NDA
Gurbachan Singh Salaria: He is a Param Vir Chakra recipient who lost his life in Congo as a part of the UN Peace-keeping Mission. His family moved from Shakargarh now in Pakistan and settled in India during the partition and he went on to graduate from NDA and also the first of its alumni to win the PVC.
Joginder Jaswant Singh: Another migrant from Now Pakistan whose family settled in India during the partition. He was the 22nd Chief of Army staff in the Indian Army. He was also appointed as the 14th Governor of the State of Arunachal Pradesh in 2008.
The process of written and SSB in NDA
Every year examination is held by NDA through UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) to choose candidates who want a career in the Indian Armed Forces.
This process of selection is segregated into two parts viz. written examination and Interview in the front of the Staff Selection Board.
One has to acquire the Cut off marks to go for the interview round where the candidates will be grilled further in the SSB and will be tested on personality and intelligence.
After the whole process is done with, the UPSC and the SSB announces a combined list of students who are selected on the basis of their written and Interview performance to move on to the medical examination.