Operation Pawan:
For the first time, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of India has recently paid homage to soldiers who laid down their lives during Operation Pawan, the 1987 Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) mission in Sri Lanka.
- It was launched by the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1987, sending the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka to help quell the civil war between the Tamil and Sinhala communities.
- It was India’s first major overseas military campaign post-Independence.
- It was launched under the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, 1987.
- It involved sending Indian troops into Sri Lanka to disarm the Tamil militant groups, including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and restore peace.
- One of the most notable martyrs of Operation Pawan was Major Ramaswamy Parameswaran, a Param Vir Chakra recipient.
- ‘Operation Pawan’ formally ended in 1990 with the withdrawal of the IPKF.
- Although Sri Lanka has constructed a memorial acknowledging the IPKF’s role, the operation did not receive formal commemoration at the National War Memorial (Rashtriya Samar Smarak) in New Delhi.
- For decades, veterans and families sought formal recognition. In 2025, the Army finally acknowledged their long-overlooked sacrifice.
