Amar Jawan Jyoti merged with eternal flame at National War Memorial

Ahead of Republic Day celebrations, the Amar Jawan Jyoti or the "eternal flame" for soldiers at India Gate was merged with the torch at the National War Memorial on Friday. In a ceremony presided by Integrated Defence Staff chief Air Marshal Balabadhra Radha Krishna, a part of the flame was taken to the war memorial this afternoon. Krishna placed a wreath before igniting a torch from the Amar Jawan Jyoti and extinguishing the flame. A ceremonial guard from the Indian Army's Guards Regiment then carried the torch to the national war memorial. The torch was used to symbolically unite the flame from Amar Jawan Jyoti with the one at the National War Memorial after travelling approximately 150 metres. Also Read | Tripura is becoming land of opportunities, says PM Modi At both places, Air Marshal Krishna presided over the ceremony. The flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti in the India Gate memorial, according to the government, paid tribute to the martyrs of 1971 and other wars, but none of the names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the country were there. The names of all Indian defence soldiers who have perished in various operations, from the 1947-48 war with Pakistan to the Galwan valley clash with Chinese troops, are engraved in the National War Memorial, which was unveiled in 2019 by the Narendra Modi government in the India Gate complex. The names of troops who perished in counter-terrorist operations are also inscribed on the memorial's walls. Also Read | 'Bat Out Of Hell' singer Meat Loaf dies -PTC News