Despite not being directly involved in the World War 1, Indian soldiers fought in the war, just for the cause of peace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday, reiterating India’s commitment to furthering an atmosphere of harmony and brotherhood in the world.
“Today, as we mark one hundred years since the end of the horrific First World War, we reiterate our commitment towards world peace and pledge to work to further an atmosphere of harmony and brotherhood so that the trail of death and destruction caused by wars does not occur,” Modi said in a tweet.
“India remembers our brave soldiers who fought in WW-1. This was a war in which India was not directly involved yet our soldiers fought world over, just for the cause of peace,” he said.
Modi recalled that he had paid tributes to the soldiers at memorials in France’s Neuve-Chapelle and Israel’s Haifa during his trips there and when Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to India and Teen Murti-Haifa.
{{/usCountry}}Modi recalled that he had paid tributes to the soldiers at memorials in France’s Neuve-Chapelle and Israel’s Haifa during his trips there and when Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to India and Teen Murti-Haifa.
{{/usCountry}}He posted pictures of the same on Twitter.
At the time of the First World War, India was part of the British empire and more than one million troops fought alongside the British army against the German empire. Around 70,000 Indians died in the war fighting at various fronts in European, Mediterranean, Mesopotamian, North African and East African regions.
Recently, Britain had commissioned a statue, Lions of the Great War, in Smethwick in Birmingham to honour people from the Indian subcontinent who fought in the first and second world wars.