New Delhi: India and South Korea Thursday signed a pact on veterans’ cooperation and jointly inaugurated the first-ever Indian War Memorial in the East Asian country.
The ceremony took place at the historic Imjingak Park—an enduring symbol of the division of the Korean peninsula—in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. It was presided over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and South Korea’s Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA), Kwon Oh-eul.Built by India’s Ministry of Defence to commemorate the 75th anniversary of New Delhi’s participation in the Korean War (1950–53), the 25-square-metre memorial honors the humanitarian legacy of India’s troops. In fact, it has been constructed in the same area where the Custodian Force of India (CFI) had established “Hind Nagar” in September 1954, an earmarked territory housing nearly 22,000 prisoners of war (POWs) till their repatriation.
Though India did not deploy combat troops in the conflict, it dispatched the 60th Parachute Field Ambulance, a 627-man medical unit that served as the largest medical support contingent during the war. Dubbed the “Maroon Angels”, the unit operated on the frontlines, treating thousands of wounded soldiers and civilians.
