Excavated remains of soldiers, including fragments of bones and pieces of a US Air Force B-24 bomber and a C-109 aircraft that had crashed in present-day Arunachal Pradesh during the World War II, wer
Excavated remains of soldiers, including fragments of bones and pieces of a US Air Force B-24 bomber and a C-109 aircraft that had crashed in present-day Arunachal Pradesh during the World War II, were on Wednesday sent off to the US. US defence-secretary Ashton Carter, who was in the Capital on a three-day visit, oversaw the repatriation ceremony at the airport in the Capital.
One set of remains was recovered in Arunachal Pradesh between September 12 and November 17, 2015. Another set of remains was handed over to Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) by a third party from the same region, according to news agency reports.
The remains recovered late last year are possibly associated with a B-24 bomber aircraft crash on January 25, 1944, when a crew of eight personnel assigned to the 14th Air Force, 308th Bomb Group were lost during a routine mission from Kunming, China to Chabua, India.
The remains that were handed over to DPAA are possibly related to a C-109 aircraft that crashed on July 17, 1945, while flying from Jorhat to Hsinching, China, with a four-man Army-Air Force crew.
Mr Carter had on Wednesday expressed his gratitude to defence minister Manohar Parrikar and the Indian government for their support.
The repatriation issue had figured in the joint statement issued last year during the visit of US President Barack Obama to India.
