Indian Army Chief in Solemn Ceremony Pays Floral Tributes to Fallen Jawans at IPKF Memorial

Chief of the Army Staff of Indian Army General Dalbir Singh currently in Sri Lanka on a five-day (Nov 29 - Dec 04) long goodwill visit saluted the memories of Indian War Heroes who made the supreme sacrifice while fighting against the ruthless LTTE terrorism in Sri Lanka during a solemn ceremony on Sunday (29) at the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) memorial at Battaramulla, just a few hours upon his arrival.

The visit to the IPKF memorial would unfailingly take the visiting Army Chief back down on the memory lane as the IPKF’s ‘Operation Pawan’ was his first battlefield operation in 1987 as his Unit was one among the firsts to be inducted in Sri Lanka within 24 hours under the Peace Accord signed between India and Sri Lanka. Coincidentally, General Dalbir Singh was serving as a Company Commander in the same ‘Operation Pawan’, launched to recapture Jaffna.

At the IPKF memorial premises, both Major General E.M.M. Ambanpola, Deputy Chief of Staff and Major General M. Hathurusinghe, Adjutant General received the visiting Indian Army Chief as the troops of the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps and Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police, remained vigil to kick off the proceedings after inviting the day’s chief guest to the special dais.

Amid honours presented by troops of the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps and Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police, General Dalbir Singh walked to the memorial and solemnly placed a floral wreath and saluted his fellow-Indian soldiers who had laid their lives in Sri Lanka’s fight against terrorism.

Sounding of the Last Post in keeping with military traditions and accord of formal respect, signalled the end of the brief memorial service.

The commemorative ceremony was attended by Captain Prakash Gopalan, Defence Attaché, and a host of senior officers of the Sri Lanka Army.