New Delhi, Aug 14: India on Thursday recognised the acts of gallantry by the armed forces personnel and the role of senior military brass involved in the planning and execution of Operation Sindoor in its annual list of military honours on the eve of 79th Independence Day.
Nine Indian Air Force pilots involved in the precision strikes on terror infrastructure and military installations in Pakistan were conferred Vir Chakra, the third highest wartime gallantry awards after the Param Vir Chakra and Maha Vir Chakra.
Four Indian Army personnel were also named for Vir Chakra for their roles in Operation Sindoor.
IAF personnel manning the S-400 air defence systems during the May 7-10 military conflict were also among those conferred the coveted awards. A total of 20 pilots and six other IAF personnel were named for the Vayu Sena medal. One IAF pilot was named for Shaurya Chakra.
President Droupadi Murmu, who is also the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, approved the awards.
Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari, Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti, Indian Army’s DGMO Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai and Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Pratik Sharma are among top military officers named for Sarvottam Yudh Seva medal.
Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor and Air Marshal Jeetendra Misra, heading the South Western Air Command and the Western Air Command respectively, have also been conferred Sarvottam Yudh Seva medal.
The two IAF commands played a major role targeting terror infrastructures in Pakistan that included Markaz Taiba of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Muridke, Markaz Subhan Allah of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Bahawalpur and Hizbul Mujahideen’s Mehmoona Joya facility in Sialkot.
Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh, who as the Flag Officer Commanding in Chief of Western Naval Command, played a critical role in deployment of naval assets following the Pahalgam attack, has also been named for Sarvottam Yudh Seva medal. Singh retired from service last month.
Deputy Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, who also played a major role in finalising the Navy’s deployment strategy in the aftermath of the Pahalgam massacre, has been conferred Uttam Yudh Seva medal.
A notable name in the list of awardees is Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti. As the Director General of Air Operations (DGAO), he played an important role during Operation Sindoor. He was subsequently appointed as Deputy Chief of Air Staff.
The recipients of the Vir Chakra included Group Captains Ranjit Singh Sidhu, Manish Arora, Animesh Patni and Kunal Kalra.
Wing Commander Joy Chandra, Squadron Leaders Sarthak Kumar, Siddhant Singh, Rizwan Malik, and Flight Lieutenant A S Thakur were also honoured with Vir Chakra.
The four Army officers who have been conferred the Vir Chakra are Colonel Koshank Lamba, Lieutenant Colonel Sushil Bisht, Naib Subedar Satish Kumar and Rifleman Sunil Kumar.
The lone Shaurya Chakra award winner is Wing Commander Abhimanyu Singh.
In total, IAF personnel received four Sarvottam Yudh Seva medal, five Uttam Yudh Seva medal, nine Vir Chakras, one Shaurya Chakra, 13 Yudh Seva medals, 26 Vayu Sena medals and 162 Mentions-in-Despatches for Operation Sindoor.
Vayu Sena medal winner Group Captain Omar Browne is son of former IAF chief NAK Browne. Another Vayu Sena medal winner, Squadron Leader Mihir Vivek Chaudhari is the son of former Chief of Air Staff V R Chaudhari.
President Murmu approved 127 Gallantry awards and 40 Distinguished Service awards to the armed forces and central armed police forces personnel on the eve of Independence Day.
These include four Kirti Chakras, 15 Vir Chakras, 16 Shaurya Chakras, two Bar to Sena Medals (Gallantry), 58 Sena Medals (Gallantry), six Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry) and 26 Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry).
The Kirti Chakra awardees are Capt Lalrinawma Salio from 4 Para, Lt Shashank Tiwari from the Army Service Corps, Lance Naik Meenatchi Sundarama from the 34 Rashtriya Rifles and Sepoy Pravin Prabhakar of 1 Rashtriya Rifles.
Kirti Chakra is the second-highest peacetime gallantry award.
The awards also included seven Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medals, nine Uttam Yudh Seva Medals and 24 Yudh Seva Medals.
The President has also approved 290 Mention-in-Despatches, of which 115 are from the Indian Army, five from the Indian Navy, and 167 are from the IAF. (PTI)
