Nagaland remembers the Battle of Kohima, 75 years later

Kohima, April 6, 2019:

Japanese envoy Kenji Hiramatsu on Thursday paid tribute to the fallen soldiers of the Battle of Kohima, commemorating 75 years of the decisive battle.

A special event was held which was attended by Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, High Commissioner of the UK Sir Dominic Asquith, among others.

"Ahead of the event, Ambassador Hiramatsu visited and laid flowers at the Kohima War Cemetery. After the event, he held a fruitful meeting with the  Chief Minister of Nagaland, and explored ways to further strengthen Japan-Nagaland relations," the Japanese Embassy said in a statement.

The Battle of Kohima was one of the turning points in the war in the Far-East during the Second World War. Kohima, some thirty miles from the border of Burma, had to be taken by the Japanese if their 1944 ‘March on Delhi’ was to succeed. The fact that British and Commonwealth forces held them off at Kohima, coupled with the Japanese failure to take Imphal, ended this offensive.