NEW DELHI: Indian Army has constructed a War Memorial in Chushul, which will be inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh next week, on the 59th anniversary of the famous battle of Rezangla.
“The defence minister will inaugurate the Rezangla War Memorial on November 18,” said a source. He will be accompanied by Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat. The new War Memorial will be on the tourist map of Ladakh.
In addition to the names of 114 of the 120 soldiers of the 13th Kumaon Battalion who lost their lives fighting but defeated many waves of the Chinese army in 1962, this War Memorial will also have the names of the 20 soldiers who died in Galwan last year in a clash with the Chinese soldiers.
This will be the second Memorial after the Galwan War Memorial in Chushul of Eastern Ladakh.
The Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh has been a site of tense stand-offs with the PLA since May 2020. Although there have been disengagement of troops from Galwan, Gogra and North and South Banks of the Pangong Lake, confrontations continue in Hotspring, Depsang and Demchok.
There are close to 60,000 soldiers of each side of the LAC.
Indian Army is prepared for every eventuality, said the Army Chief recently, expressing concern over the increased deployment of forces on the Chinese Side. Army Chief Gen MM Naravane said, “Yes, it is a matter of concern that largescale build-up has occurred and continues to be in place, and to sustain that kind of a build-up, there has been an equal amount of infrastructure development on the Chinese side.”