Watch: How Amar Jawan Jyoti was merged with War Memorial flame

In a sombre ceremony, the flame at the Amar Jawan Jyoti memorial was merged with the one at the National War Memorial. The ceremony included a military parade with a band, as the flame was collected from India Gate and taken to the new memorial.

Integrated Defence Staff chief Air Marshal Balabhadra Radha Krishna reportedly presided over the ceremony, and also performed the significant act of merging the flames. The ceremony began with wreath laying at the Amar Jawan Jyoti following which a part of it was collected using a torch. Then the flame at the cenotaph was extinguished and soldiers marched with the torch to the National War Memorial, around 400 metres away. There, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was added to the eternal flame.

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The Amar Jawan Jyoti was lit under the British-built India Gate by Indira Gandhi in 1972 following India's victory against Pakistan which led to the liberation of Bangladesh.

The National War Memorial was inaugurated in 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Names of all Indian soldiers who have been martyred since Independence have been engraved there.

The merging of the flames was described as historic by the Narendra Modi government, but invited criticism from Opposition quarters, who called it a bid to erase the past.