'No One Shall Be Left Behind': Lt Gen Pushpendra Singh Salutes Fallen Comrades on 1st Day as Army Staff VC

In a solemn ceremony at the National War Memorial, Lt Gen Pushpendra Singh paid tribute to soldiers who had once fought by his side and laid down their lives in an operation he led as part of Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka in 1989.

Lt Gen Pushpendra Singh assumed the prestigious appointment of Vice Chief of the Army Staff. A distinguished officer from the 4th Battalion of The Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), he was commissioned in December 1987 after graduating from La Martiniere College, Lucknow, Lucknow University and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.

As a young officer, 2/Lt Pushpendra Singh joined his battalion during the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) operations in Sri Lanka. 4 PARA had been inducted into the island nation in October 1987, participating in key operations in Jaffna and later deploying in Kilinochchi. On 22 July 1989, while leading a 13-member Quick Reaction Team moving from Iranamadu to Kilinochchi, 2/Lt Pushpendra Singh’s convoy was ambushed.

Displaying exemplary courage and leadership, he led a fierce counter-assault that resulted in four LTTE terrorists being neutralised and several others injured, despite the team suffering casualties, including five bravehearts who made the supreme sacrifice. 2/Lt Pushpendra Singh and two others were severely wounded in the operation.

On the occasion of taking over as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, Lt Gen Pushpendra Singh invited the Veer Naris and family members of five fallen soldiers of this gallant action to be part of the solemn event. Accompanied by the families, he paid homage at the Eternal Flame at the National War Memorial and laid floral tributes at the Tyag Chakra, where the names of the five bravehearts from the ambush have been immortalised.