The monument built in the vicinity of the Parliamentary complex in Kotte in honour of the Indian troops killed in the north and east of Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990, was to have been formally unveiled by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh more than two years ago, but it turned out to be a non-event.
However, the monument has now received official sanction from India.
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| The memorial in honour of the fallen |
Indian High Commissioner Ashok K. Kantha laid a wreath at the monument on Indian Independence Day which fell last Sunday. Earlier Indian Navy Commander Nirmal Verma who visited Sri Lanka in June this year too visited the monument to pay his respects to the fallen men.
However the Indian approval for the monument has been slow in coming. Prime Minister Singh was to unveil it when he visited Sri Lanka in May 2008 for the Heads of State Summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) but the visit was abandoned due to rising anti-Sri Lankan sentiments at the time in South India.
The lettering that was etched on the black marble in the front of the monument stating it was declared open by the Indian Prime Minister has now been erased leaving that space bare.
The memorial with the names of around 1,500 of the fallen men etched on the black marble has been put up by the Sri Lanka Navy. A High Commission spokesman said that from now on at all important national events of India, a wreath would be laid at the foot of the monument for the fallen soldiers.
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| The inscription on the monument with the telltale blank space |
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