The Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate was merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial (NWM) in New Delhi on Friday. People can now pay their respects at the eternal flame at the NWM, military officials said. However, opposition parties, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, criticised the government's move.

In the face of protests from the Congress andsome veterans, the Centre said the AJJ was “not extinguished” and only “merged” with the flame at the National War Memorial (NWM). PM Modi said after independence new things were constructed only for a “few families” but now they were building monuments of national importance.

At a ceremony presided over by Air Marshal B.R. Krishna, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), a torch with the flame at the AJJ was carried with full military honours and merged with the NWM flame.

The NWM, inaugurated in February 2019, is located at the ‘C’ Hexagon near India Gate and was built in memory of the soldiers who laid down their lives for the country in the post-Independence period. It has the names of over 26,000 soldiers inscribed on it.

In a change of tradition since the unveiling of the NWM, before the commencement of the Republic Day parade in 2020, Mr. Modi paid homage to the fallen soldiers by laying a wreath at the flame of there, instead of at the AJJ.