India names six Operation Sindoor dead on war memorial

The Indian government has formally acknowledged, for the first time, the identities of six military personnel killed during Operation Sindoor, a cross-border military campaign conducted in May 2025. Their names have been inscribed on the National War Memorial in New Delhi and added to its online Roll of Honour.

The personnel are Subedar Major Pawan Kumar, Rifleman Sunil Kumar, Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar, Aviation Technician Mood Muralinaik, Havildar Sunil Kumar Singh, and Sergeant Surendra Kumar. Two were posthumously decorated for gallantry: Rifleman Sunil Kumar received the Vir Chakra and Sergeant Surendra Kumar was awarded the Vayu Medal. Their inclusion in the memorial's 2025 section marks the first official public confirmation of Indian fatalities from the operation, ending more than a year of speculation.

Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7, 2025, as a direct military response to a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22 of that year. That attack resulted in the deaths of 26 civilians, most of them tourists. The operation involved precision strikes targeting infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir associated with terrorist groups,...