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Venue for Kargil War memorial to be finalised soon: Jaitley

by IBNS 26 Jul 2014, 07:52 am

New Delhi, July 26 (IBNS): Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the government would soon finalise the venue for a War Memorial and a museum in the name of the soldiers who had sacrificed their lives fighting the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan.

 Jaitley said the government was committed to the purpose and already allocated funds for construction of the same. His budget speech had also mentioned the same. 

Jaitley and the three Service chiefs paid homage to the Kargil martyrs this morning at at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate as the nation commemorates 15th Kargil Vijay Diwas.

“Forces are ready and well equipped. We have tried to increase the Defence expenditure this year as well,” the defence minister told media persons.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also greeted the nation on Twitter. “We remember the indomitable courage and sacrifice of our Armed Forces on Kargil Vijay Diwas. The nation salutes these brave martyrs,” Modi tweeted.

In a separate incident, the Kargil Vijay Diwas was marred by a grenade attack by terrorists in Baramulla area of Jammu and Kashmir that killed one person and injured four others.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted: “My condolences to the families of the two brave JK police personnel who laid down their lives in separate militant attacks in the past 24 hrs.”

Earlier on Friday, to commemorate ‘Operation Vijay Diwas’, General Bikram Singh, the Chief of Army Staff visited Drass in Jammu and Kashmir.  The visit started with a solemn wreath laying ceremony at the war memorial by the Chief, who also interacted with the ‘Next of Kin’ of those who sacrificed their lives, Veer Naris and the gallantry award winners.  In the sombre mood at the event, all present remembered the sacrifices made during Kargil War in 1999.