Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, Director General Military Operations, and Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti, Director General Air Operations — key instrumental players in Operation Sindoor — were awarded the Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal, while Vice Admiral AN Pramod, Director General Naval Operations, was conferred the Yudh Seva Medal on the eve of the 79th Independence Day.
Deemed India’s highest wartime distinguished service decoration, the Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal has been awarded to seven officers who played a key role in the planning and execution of Operation Sindoor, India’s response to terrorism and terrorist hubs. The recipients include Lt Gen Pratik Sharma, GOC-in-C Northern Command, Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, DGMO, Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh (Retd) – FOC-in-C Western Naval Command, Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari, VCAS, Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor – AOC-in-C Southern Air Command, Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra – AOC-in-C Western Air Command, and Air Marshal AK Bharti – DG, Air Ops.
On the eve of Independence Day, President Droupadi Murmu approved 127 Gallantry awards and 40 Distinguished Service awards to the Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces personnel. These include four Kirti Chakras, 15 Vir Chakras, 16 Shaurya Chakras, 02 Bar to Sena Medals (Gallantry), 58 Sena Medals (Gallantry), 06 Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry), 26 Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry); 07 Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medals, 09 Uttam Yudh Seva Medals, and 24 Yudh Seva Medals.
The President has also approved 290 Mention-in-Despatches – 115 personnel of the Indian Army, 05 of the Indian Navy, 167 of the Indian Air Force, and 03 of the Border Roads Development Board (BRDB).
Previously, the government declared that 26 officers and personnel of the Indian Air Force would be honoured with the Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) for their exceptional service during Operation Sindoor. These recipients were involved in key missions targeting sites within Pakistan, as well as in the operation of critical air defence systems like the S-400, which successfully thwarted all attempted attacks by Pakistan on Indian territory.
The Kirti Chakra awardees include: Captain Lalrinawma Sailo (4 PARA (SPECIAL FORCES), Lieutenant Shashank Tiwari, Lance Naik Meenathci Sundaram, and Sepoy Janjal Pravin Prabhakar.
The Vayu Sena Medal was awarded to Group Captain Ankur Hakim, Group Captain Manav Bhatia, Group Captain Yasir Faruqi, Group Captain Varun Bhoj, Group Captain Anuraj Singh Minhas, Group Captain Omar Browne, Group Captain Deepak Chauhan, Group Captain Kunal Vishwas Shimpi, Wing Commander Rupak Roy, Wing Commander Devendra Babasaheb Autade, Wing Commander Mayank Paliwal, Wing Commander Deepak Dogra, Wing Commander Ravinder Kumar, Wing Commander Adarsh Gupta, Wing Commander Abhay Singh Bhadoria, Wing Commander Amandeep Singh Dihot, Squadron Leader Kaustubh Nalawade, Squadron Leader Mihir Vivek Chaudhari, Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma, Squadron Leader Malapati N.V. Naveen Kumar, Squadron Leader Shubham Sharma, Squadron Leader Aman Singh, Squadron Leader Gaurav Khokher, Flight Lieutenant A. Naveen Chandar, Sergeant Surendra Kumar, Corporal Varunkumar S., Veer Chakra Group Captain Ranjeet Singh Sidhu, Group Captain Manish Arora, Group Captain Animesh Patnim, Group Captain Kunal Kalra, Wing Commander Joy Chandra, Squadron Leader Sarthak Kumar, Squadron Leader Siddhant Singh, Squadron Leader Rizwan Malik, and Flight Lieutenant Arshweer Singh Thakur.
The Veer Chakra was awarded to Group Captain Ranjeet Singh Sidhu, Group Captain Manish Arora, Group Captain Animesh Patnim, Group Captain Kunal Kalra, Wing Commander Joy Chandra, Squadron Leader Sarthak Kumar, Squadron Leader Siddhant Singh, Squadron Leader Rizwan Malik, and Flight Lieutenant Arshweer Singh Thakur.