India’s military polished tanks and put soldiers, horses and camels through their paces Thursday in preparation for a scaled-down Republic Day parade in New Delhi next week.

The annual January 26 event showcases India’s military might with missile launchers and fly-pasts as well as motorcycle stunts and the brass band of the dromedary-riding Border Security Force.

With COVID-19 cases surging around the country, attendance has been slashed to between 5,000 and 8,000 from last year’s 25,000, and there will be no foreign guest of honour, reports said.

To allow the parade to go ahead, workers have also been rushing to complete construction work on a multibillion-dollar revamp of a government complex in the heart of Delhi that will include a new parliament building. Critics said the revamping of the area lined with colonial-era buildings and trees a needless and wasteful vanity project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.