New Delhi, January 20: In a historical step days before Republic Day, the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at the India Gate lawns would be extinguished and merged with the flame at the National War Memorial on Friday. "The Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at India Gate will be extinguished and merged with the flame at the National War Memorial on Friday in a ceremony," said an Indian Army official to ANI.

The ceremony would be presided over by the Integrated Defence Staff chief Air Marshal Balabadhra Radha Krishna who would merge the two flames, officials said. The India Gate memorial was built by the British government in memory of the British Indian Army soldiers who lost their lives between 1914-1921.

However, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was included in the memorial structure in the 1970s after the massive victory of India over Pakistan in which 93,000 troops of the enemy country surrendered. After a long wait and multiple considerations, the National War Memorial was built in the India Gate complex by the Narendra Modi government and was inaugurated in 2019. Republic Day 2022: Jammu and Kashmir Govt Employees Told To Attend R-Day Function As ‘Official Duty’.

After the inauguration of the building in War memorial, all military ceremonial events were shifted to it from the India Gate memorial. The National War Memorial has the names of all the Indian defence personnel who have lost their lives in different operations from the 1947-48 war with Pakistan to the Galwan valley clash with Chinese troops. The names of troops who lost lives in the counter-terrorist operations are also included on the walls of the memorial.

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