By IANS,
New Delhi : The government Tuesday said it was searching for an “alternative site” for a new war memorial, even as it rejected a proposal from the armed forces to construct one close to India Gate, the World War I monument that now houses the Amar Jawan Jyoti.
“Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a solution. But again we are trying to find an alternative place for which discussions are going on,” Defence Minister A.K. Antony told reporters after laying a wreath to mark the 12th anniversary of the Kargil war with Pakistan.
Antony said the government was trying to find a solution to the issue “at the earliest”.
The armed forces proposed in 2008 a war memorial at India Gate. But the search for a new site has begun afresh after the government’s rejection of the proposal due to objections from the urban development ministry.
India Gate, the only national war memorial, was built to honour Indian soldiers killed in World War I and the third Anglo-Afghan war. There is no national war memorial for Indian soldiers honoured for gallantry after independence.