Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tributes to the Indian soldiers who fought in the World War I and reiterated the country’s commitment towards world peace. “This was a war in which India was not directly involved yet our soldiers fought world over, just for the cause of peace,” he tweeted on the occasion of the centenary of Armistice Day.
Armistice Day is commemorated on November 11 to mark the end of the 1914-1918 conflict. More than 10 million German and Russian soldiers died in the war and more than twice as many suffered injuries, according to AFP.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, currently in France to represent India at the Armistice centenary commemoration, also paid tributes to the contributions of Indian soldiers. “I join the nation in paying homage to Indian soldiers who fought selflessly for human liberty and freedom,” he tweeted. “Their valour and sense of duty reaffirmed India’s commitment to righteousness.”
Naidu on Friday unveiled an Indian War Memorial at Villers Guislain, 200 km from Paris, to highlight the contribution of Indian soldiers who helped France achieve freedom, The Hindu reported.
France organised a number of events to mark the centenary, which was attended by several world leaders including United States President Donald Trump. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday signed a book of remembrance in a railway carriage similar to the one in which the 1918 Armistice was sealed, the BBC reported.
Merkel became the first German leader since World War II to visit the site where the Armistice was signed, in a forest near the town of Compiegne in northern France. Macron and Merkel unveiled a plaque to Franco-German reconciliation and also laid a wreath.
The leaders will attend a peace conference on Sunday, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan in attendance.
Several countries also held ceremonies to mark the centenary. In Australia, a ceremony was held at the National War Memorial in Canberra and an aircraft showered thousands of red paper poppies in Adelaide. The poppy flower is the symbol of remembrance for the World War I. In New Zealand’s capital Wellington, a gun salute took place.
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