Army Chief Gen Dwivedi to lead first‑ever official commemoration of Operation Pawan on Nov 25

Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi will tomorrow lead the armed forces in the first-ever official commemoration for soldiers who laid down their lives in ‘Operation Pawan’ in Sri Lanka.

The deployment of forces to Sri Lanka was called the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). The solemn ceremony tomorrow signifies the long-awaited recognition and closure for the 1,171 soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice of their lives and the 3,500 who were injured in the line of duty.

A ‘wreath laying’ ceremony will be held at National War Memorial, New Delhi, on November 25. General Dwivedi, will lay a wreath at the memorial, honouring the supreme sacrifice of Maj R Parameswaran and all fallen soldiers of Operation Pawan. Lieutenant General Pushpendra Singh, Vice Chief of the Army, who had participated in Operation Pawan as a young officer, would be accompanying the Army Chief.

Major R Parameshwaran was the only Param Vir Chakra awardee from Operation Pawan.

This will address a long‑standing grievance of military veterans. A few days ago, the Indian Army’s Ceremonial & Welfare Branch conveyed to veterans that there will be an official commemoration of Operation Pawan. That the Army Chief would lead the event was confirmed today.

Till now, there had been no official commemoration for ‘Operation Pawan’. Each year some veterans and their families gather at the national war memorial and lay a wreath on their own. It is a ‘silent cremeony’ — meaning no playing of traditional Army bugles.

The case for official recognition of the IPKF has been under active consideration by the Ministry of Defence for several years.