PANCHKULA:To commemorate the 1971 Indo-Pak war, Indian Ex-servicemen Movement (IESM) organised a lecture on ‘Military force and diplomacy in managing India’s external security’ on Saturday.

SANT ARORA/HT■ Exservicemen during 46th Vijay Diwas celebrations to commemorate 1971 IndoPak war.Former high commissioner to Pakistan and Singapore,TCA Raghavan, addressed the gathering and said, “I believe relationship with neighbouring countries is never smooth. If we look at India and Pakistan’s relationship through any country’s lens, things will seem alright.”

“Few people say why it bothers us, why are we spending our time and energy in dealing with Pakistan’s issues. Like Iraq and Germany cannot insulate themselves from the volatile situation in Syria and Iraq, the same goes for India with Pakistan,” he added.

He further said, “We talk about military force and diplomacy. There is not a single neighbouring country where we did not use our force.”

VIJAY DIWAS AT WESTERN COMMAND HQ

Vijay Diwas was celebrated with grandeur at Western Command headquarters.

Lt Gen Surinder Singh, general officer commanding (GOC), 1971 war veterans Brig Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, Lt Gen GS Sihota, Air Marshal MM Singh, Col HS Dhaliwal laid a wreath at Veer Smriti War Memorial at Chandimandir. In another ceremony, tributes were paid to second lieutenant Arun Kshetrapal, who laid down his life fighting in the 1971 war.

REMEMBERING HEROS ON VIJAY DIWAS