India News | Flame Celebrating Golden Jubilee of 1971 War Victory to Reach A&N Islands on Aug 3

New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) The flame celebrating the golden jubilee of India's victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war will reach Andaman and Nicobar Islands on August 3, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lit the "Swarnim Vijay Mashaal" from the eternal flame of the National War Memorial in New Delhi on December 16 last year, marking the beginning of "Swarnim Vijay Varsh" (golden jubilee) celebrations.

Since then, the victory flame is travelling across the length and breadth of the country and a large number of commemorative events have been conducted during its journey, the Defence Ministry's statement noted.

The flame would be handed over to the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) in Chennai on Saturday.

"The victory flame would be received by the joint-services team of ANC and on the same day it will travel on an Indian Navy ship from Chennai to Port Blair," the ministry mentioned.

The victory flame will be in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands between August 3-28, it said.

"During this period a large number of events have been jointly planned by the civil administration and ANC. The events would witness participation from service veterans as well as the local population, particularly youth," it noted.

In December 1971, the Indian Armed Forces had secured a decisive victory over Pakistan Army, and a new nation Bangladesh was born.

The victory also resulted in the largest military surrender after the Second World War wherein approximately 93,000 soldiers of the Pakistan Army surrendered to the Indian Army.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)