Tribune News Service
Drass (Kargil), July 26

The three chiefs of the armed forces paid homage to martyrs on the 20th anniversary of the Kargil war at a memorial in the frontier town here today.

Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and Naval Chief Admiral Karambir Singh laid wreaths at the Kargil War Memorial. When they led the ceremony, Cheetah helicopters flew overhead and showered flower petals.

The Army Chief said it was the day to pay homage to soldiers “who laid down their lives, to those who were wounded in the battle and those who fought the war and supported the units that were actively involved in combat”. “Over the past two days, we witnessed accounts of the battles that were fought on these icy heights under very difficult circumstances yet the Indian soldier did not fail in his duty,” he said.

General VP Malik (retd), the Chief of Army Staff during the Kargil war, civilian dignitaries, war veterans and other Army officers also paid tribute to the soldiers who fell in the battlefield 20 years ago.