NEW DELHI: Since assuming office in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a precedent in paying tribute to Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during the World War I and II, particularly those who died on foreign soil.
Through these acts of remembrance, Modi has emerged as a staunch advocate for honouring the brave soldiers, many of whose sacrifices had been forgotten over time, as they fell in distant lands while defending freedom and peace.
During his visit to Australia in 2014, the PM paid homage to the bravehearts at the War Memorial in Canberra. He presented Man Singh Trophy, a cherished symbol of the Sikh Regiment battalions, to his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott.
Originally crafted in silver, the trophy was first presented to the Officers’ Mess of the 14th (King George’s Own) Sikhs in 1919. “It commemorates the valour of those officers who served in the First World War in Egypt, Gallipoli, Sinai, and Mesopotamia between October 1914 and May 1917,” the PMO had said.
In November 2015, Modi became the first Indian PM to pay tribute at the INA Memorial Marker in Singapore. Earlier in April 2015, he was the first Indian PM to honour the Indian soldiers at the World War I Memorial in Neuve Chapelle, France.
In 2017, during his visit to Israel, Modi paid tribute to the soldiers at Indian War Cemetery in Haifa. In September 2018, on his ‘Mann Ki Baat’, he spoke of the centenary of the Battle of Haifa and paid tribute to the Indian soldiers from the Mysore, Hyderabad, and Jodhpur Lancers who had liberated Haifa during World War I.
In October 2018, the PM, reflecting on the contribution of Indian soldiers in First World War, said, “We had no direct connection with that war. Despite this, our soldiers fought bravely, played a very big role and made their supreme sacrifices. Our soldiers displayed great valour in difficult areas and adverse conditions”.
In 2023, Modi’s trip to Egypt included a visit to Heliopolis Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Cairo where he paid tribute to 4,300 Indian soldiers who died during World War I in Egypt and Aden. In 2024, during his visit to Poland, he laid a wreath at the Memorial to the Battle of Monte Cassino in Warsaw, commemorating the sacrifices of soldiers from India, Poland and other nations who fought together in the famous battle in Italy during Second World War.
Recently, Modi visited France in February 2025 and laid a wreath at Mazargues War Cemetery in Marseille. The cemetery holds a memorial to the Indian soldiers who died during the World Wars while defending foreign lands. Modi, accompanied by French President Emmanuel Macron, reaffirmed the historical ties between India and France.
Places visited abroad
2014 AustralianWar Memorial, Canberra
2015 INA Memorial Marker, Singapore
2017 The Indian War Cemetery in Haifa, Israel
2018 Haifa Isreal for paying tributes of Soldiers of Mysore, Hyderbad & Jodhpur
2023 Heliopolis Commonwealth War Grave, Egypt
2024 Monument to the Battle of Monte Cassino, Poland
2025 Mazargues War Cemetery Marseille, Franace