Chandigarh: Expressing grief over the death of Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Saturday declared a three-day state mourning. 

There would be no official celebrations and the National Flag would fly at half-mast in all government buildings during these days, an official spokesperson said. Amarinder also lauded Arjan Singh’s outstanding services as an envoy to various countries. 

Arjan Singh was a respectable figure of the Indian military history. War hero Marshal Arjan Singh, who led the Indian Air Force during the 1965 India-Pakistan conflict, died on Saturday evening after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was 98.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had also visited at the Delhi hospital to meet Marshal Arjan Singh. 

In his condolence message, the CM said Arjan Singh’s contribution to the nation would forever remain etched in history. In his death, India has lost a great son of the soil, who always remained at the forefront to defend the country’s borders from external invasions on the one hand and to the other hand to uphold supreme traditions and glory of the armed forces on the other. 

The Chief Minister recalled that Arjan Singh had the distinction of becoming the only living Five Air Chief Marshal of Air Forces when, in recognition of the Air Force’s stellar role in the 1965 war, the rank of the Chief of Air Staff was upgraded to that of Air Chief Marshal.