Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Heliopolis Commonwealth War Cemetery in Cairo on Sunday to pay tribute to Indian soldiers who died in Egypt and Palestine during the First World War. The cemetery includes two memorials, the Heliopolis (Port Tewfik) Memorial and the Heliopolis (Aden) Memorial. Nearly 4,000 Indian soldiers are commemorated at the Port Tewfik Memorial, while the Aden Memorial pays tribute to over 600 Commonwealth soldiers who died in Aden during the First World War. The cemetery also contains graves of other nationalities and burials from the Second World War.
The original Port Tewfik memorial was built in 1926 but was damaged during the Israeli-Egyptian conflict in 1967-1973 and eventually demolished. A new memorial was erected in 1980, with panels bearing the names of Indian soldiers who died during the First World War.
Modi offered floral tributes and signed the visitor’s book at the cemetery. Last year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also paid tribute at the Heliopolis Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery. This visit is part of Modi’s two-day state visit to Egypt, the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 26 years.
