NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tributes to Indian soldiers who fought in World War-I, and reiterated the country’s commitment towards world peace. “Today, as we mark one hundred years since the end of the horrific First World War, we reiterate our commitment towards world peace and pledge to work to further an atmosphere of harmony and brotherhood so that the trail of death and destruction caused by wars does not occur,” Modi said in a series of tweets.
The war broke out a month after the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife were assassinated by a Bosnian Serb.
Nearly 1.5 million Indian soldiers had served in the World War-I, while over 74,000 of them were killed in action. Fittingly, soldiers from the subcontinent had won 11 Victoria Crosses.
“This was a war in which India was not directly involved yet our soldiers fought world over, just for the cause of peace,” the Prime Minister tweeted.
Modi recalled his visit to the Neuve-Chapelle Memorial in France and at the memorial in Israel’s Haifa. “I have had the honour of paying tributes at the Neuve-Chapelle Memorial in France and at the memorial in Israel’s Haifa, places associated with India’s role in the First World War,” he said in one of his tweets.
Last year, the ‘Teen Murti Marg’ in Central Delhi, which is built as a tribute to the soldiers who were martyred at Haifa in World War-I, was proposed to be renamed as ‘Teen Murti Haifa Chowk’.