India to host special event in Paris to mark WWI centenary

NEW DELHI: India will organise a special event tomorrow to commemorate the centenary of World War I at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

The event will be opened with a rendition of the 'French Last Post' followed by a welcome address by India's Permanent Delegate to UNESCO Ruchira Khamboj.

The Permanent Delegations of Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom have also extended their support to the special programme, a release said today. Their ambassadors will also address the audience.

According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, by the time World War I had ended in November 1918, more than a million Indian personnel had been sent overseas and over 60,000 troops got killed.

The supreme sacrifice of Indian soldiers in Europe is recorded at the major World War I memorial at Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium, and at the memorial for Indian soldiers in Neue Chappelle in France.