NEW DELHI, June 4. /TASS/. The Indian military personnel will take part in the Victory Parade on Moscow’s Red Square on June 24, Russian Ambassador to India Nikolai Kudashev said on Thursday.
"India has confirmed its contingent’s participation in the Victory Parade on June 24. We are impatiently waiting for the Indian servicemen to march across Red Square. We are currently agreeing the practical aspects of the upcoming event with the Indian partners," the ambassador told Russian journalists in India.
"In particular, during the passage of the parade unit, the announcer will highlight India’s contribution to the victory over fascism and the fact that Indian soldiers were awarded the Red Star Orders in 1944," the envoy said.
Russia postponed the military parade on Moscow’s Red Square on May 9 devoted to the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War to a later date due to the coronavirus pandemic.
At a video conference with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on May 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Victory Parade would be held on Moscow’s Red Square on June 24.
The head of state explained he had chosen this date because June 24 was the day when in 1945 the legendary historic parade of victors took place, when soldiers, who fought for Moscow and defended Leningrad, who battled for Stalingrad, liberated Europe and stormed Berlin, marched on Red Square.
The Russian president instructed the defense chief to exclude any risks for the health of the military parade’s participants.
Indian servicemen - holders of Soviet military decorations
The Indian military (then in service with the British Crown) not only fought on the fronts of World War II but also provided for the delivery of cargoes along the so-called southern trans-Iranian route of the lend-lease program, under which weapons, munitions, equipment spare parts and food were supplied to the Soviet Union through Iran and Iraq.
The deliveries through the southern route started in November 1941. It was at this time that Indian soldiers started their contacts with the Soviet military. The bravery of the Indian soldiers was commended. Thus, the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet issued a decree dated May 23, 1944 and signed by its Chairman Mikhail Kalinin and its Secretary Alexander Gorkin on awarding distinguished foreign military personnel.
They included the Indian servicemen: havildar (sergeant) Gajendra Singh Chand from Almora and subedar (senior lieutenant) Naryan Rao Nikkam from Bangalore who were awarded the Orders of the Red Star.