The government has, for the first time, officially revealed the names of six Indian military personnel who were killed in action during Operation Sindoor, the cross-border military campaign launched to destroy terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in May last year.
The names of the six personnel have been published in the Roll of Honour section on the National War Memorial website and inscribed at the National War Memorial in New Delhi, marking the first formal public acknowledgement of the fatalities suffered by the Indian armed forces during the operation.
The fallen personnel include Subedar Major Pawan Kumar of Headquarters 10 Infantry Brigade, Rifleman Sunil Kumar, Vir Chakra, of 4 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar of 5 Field Regiment, Aviation Technician Mood Muralinaik of 851 Light Regiment, Havildar Sunil Kumar Singh of 237 Field Workshop Company and Sergeant Surendra Kumar, Vayu Medal, of 39 Wing.
The names have been engraved on Wall 3D of the memorial in the 2025 section dedicated to military personnel who laid down their lives in service of the nation.
First official disclosure of casualties
Until now, the government had not officially disclosed the identities of personnel killed during Operation Sindoor, despite reports and speculation about military casualties during the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May 2025.
The publication of the names on the National War Memorial’s Roll of Honour effectively amounts to the first official confirmation of the armed forces personnel who lost their lives during the operation.
Operation launched after Pahalgam attack
Operation Sindoor was launched in the early hours of May 7, 2025, weeks after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 civilians, most of them tourists, were killed.
Indian armed forces carried out precision strikes on nine terror-linked sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, targeting infrastructure linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. India and Pakistan agreed to halt military action on May 10 following talks between the two countries’ Directors General of Military Operations.
Army and Air Force personnel among the fallen
The newly revealed names indicate that the casualties during Operation Sindoor were spread across the Army and the Indian Air Force, reflecting the joint nature of the military campaign involving coordinated action by multiple services.
Among those honoured is Rifleman Sunil Kumar, who was awarded the Vir Chakra for gallantry, and Sergeant Surendra Kumar, a recipient of the Vayu Medal, highlighting the role played by decorated personnel in the operation.
The National War Memorial, inaugurated in 2019 near India Gate, commemorates Indian armed forces personnel who have died in military operations and conflicts after Independence. The addition of the six names formally places Operation Sindoor among the operations remembered at the memorial.