Narendra Modi inaugurates National War Memorial, says Congress neglected armed forces 

Narendra Modi during the inauguration of the National War Memorial.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday, in New Delhi inaugurated the National War Memorial near India Gate by lighting the “eternal flame” in the presence of veterans and serving personnel of the armed forces. Modi hailed the veterans saying, “This is new India which is a nation of new policies and new traditions, is moving forward making its mark globally, and the contribution of our armed forces personnel is immense.”

While addressing the gathering in the inauguration of the memorial, Modi said, “The demand for a national war memorial has been raised for decades, there were efforts in the last decade or two but nothing concrete took place. But with your blessings, we began the process of its construction in 2014 and we are inaugurating it within the set deadline.”

The prime minister also praised his government for introducing the one rank, one pension (OROP) for defence personnel and criticized the Congress-led UPA government. He added that Rs 35,000 crore has been distributed under OROP by his government in the last four years.

The newly inaugurated war memorial is located just east of Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate, where the eternal flame was lit in the honour of fallen soldiers after the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War with Pakistan.

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