Nineteen soldiers of the 4 and 9 Para, the special forces's units which undertook the cross-border surgical strike across the Line of Control (LoC) in September last year, have been awarded gallantry medals including a Kirti Chakra while their commanding officers have been given Yudh Sewa Medal.
Commanding Officers of 4 & 9 Para Special Forces have been conferred with the Yudh Seva medals.
Major Rohit Suri of 4 Para, who led one of the teams across the LoC targeting terrorists' launch pads, was awarded the Kirti Chakra, second highest peacetime gallantry award, on the eve of the Republic Day.
Havildar Prem Bahadur Resmi Magar of the Gorkha Rifles got the Kirti Chakra posthumously.
Also, Indian Army officers Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi and Lt Gen P M Hariz, who were superseded by General Bipin Rawat in the race for the post of Army chief, have been conferred with the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM).
PVSM is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and all ranks of the Indian Armed Forces are eligible for the award.
Col Kapil Yadav, commanding officer of 9 Para and Col Harpreet Sandhu, Commanding Officer of 4 Para, were conferred with the Yudh Sewa Medal, one of India's military decorations awarded to mark distinguished service during war time is awarded for a high degree of distinguished service in an operational content, including times of war, conflict, or hostilities and may also be awarded posthumously.
The award is the wartime equivalent of the Vishisht Seva Medal, which is a decoration for peace time distinguished service.
These awards are given to recognise the achievements of the members of Armed Forces including Army, Navy, Air Force and Territorial Army.
The Army carried out the surgical strikes on terrorist launchpads in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in retaliation to the terror attack on its camp in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, that claimed the lives of 19 jawans.
