Air Force Chief Pays Tribute To Soldiers Killed During Peacekeeping Mission In Lanka

Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari on Wednesday paid respects to the brave Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the peacekeeping mission in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990.

The Chief of Air Staff arrived here on Monday on a four-day official visit to Sri Lanka. He is visiting the country at the invitation of his Sri Lankan counterpart Air Marshal SK Pathirana.

“Tributes to the supreme sacrifice of brave Indian soldiers in #SriLanka! Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari #CAS @IAF_MCC paid his respects at the IPKF Memorial today,” the Indian High Commission here tweeted.

India lost about 1,200 soldiers during the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) operations between 1987 and 1990. About 2,500 officers of the Indian Army also suffered injuries in the operation.

The IPKF was formed under the mandate of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord signed in 1987 that aimed to end the civil war in the country between militant Sri Lankan Tamil nationalists such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan military.