New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday paid homage to the martyred soldiers to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 India-Pakistan war.
The President laid a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti memorial to the Unknown Soldier at the India Gate here.
The war saw aircraft of the Indian and Pakistani air forces engaging in combat for the first time since independence in 1947.
Though the two armies had previously faced off in the war in Kashmir in 1948, that engagement was very limited in scale compared to the 1965 conflict.
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While both India and Pakistan claim victory in the war, the commemoration by India is being seen as its iteration that it came up trumps.
During the conflict, India captured around 1,920 sq km of Pakistani territory, while Pakistan captured 550 sq km of Indian territory.
Nearly 3,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen were killed in the war, which lasted 17 days.
This is how Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar remembered the day:
#1965War Remembering a Glorious Day in History.. the epic capture of the strategic Haji Pir Pass by Indian Army. pic.twitter.com/6yE1o6jn3V
— Sitanshu Kar (@SpokespersonMoD) August 28, 2015
#1965War : Haji Pir Pass captured by 1 PARA by 1000 hrs on 28 August 1965. pic.twitter.com/tlJGHxBkZ2
— Sitanshu Kar (@SpokespersonMoD) August 28, 2015
#1965War Brig ZC Bakshi, Commander, 68 Inf Brig briefs Lt Gen Harbaksh Singh, GOC-in-C WC on Battle of Hajipir. pic.twitter.com/mqxIVAckeA
— Sitanshu Kar (@SpokespersonMoD) August 28, 2015
