Union Minister Hardeep Puri on Monday (June 23, 2025) referred to as for closing down funding channels to terrorists and separatists and doubling efforts to unitedly fight the worldwide menace as he paid tributes to the victims of the Air India Flight 182 Kanishka bombing on its fortieth anniversary.
The Montreal-London-New Delhi Air India ‘Kanishka’ Flight 182 exploded 45 minutes earlier than it was supposed to land on the U.Ok.’s Heathrow Airport on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 individuals on board, most of them Canadians of Indian descent.
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India Hardeep Singh Puri lays a wreath throughout a commemoration on the Ahakista Memorial to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Air India catastrophe, in West Cork, Ireland, on June 23, 2025.
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Mr. Puri, the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, was joined by Irish Prime Minister Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Canada’s Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree to pay tributes to the Kanishka victims on the Ahakista Memorial in County Cork, about 260 km southwest of Dublin.
“On behalf of the people and Government of India, a 7-member delegation led by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas @HardeepSPuri paid tributes to the victims at the Ahakista Memorial in County Cork, Ireland,” mentioned a submit on X by the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
Mr. Puri in his speech thanked the “wonderful community of Ahakista and the people of Ireland,” who he mentioned, rose to the event when the accident occurred 40 years in the past.
“This memorial stands testimony to the tragedy of that crash on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean not far from here,” he mentioned.
“Irrespective of the differences in ideologies and political differences, we need to be vigilant about terrorism and united in combating the menace,” he mentioned on X.
Asserting that point has come to shut off the funding channels of terrorists and separatists mindsets, in order that there is no such thing as a scope for extremism, Mr. Puri mentioned in one other submit on X, “We need to double our efforts to ensure that what happened on June 23, 1985 is not repeated anywhere in the world in future.”
“It was a privilege to attend the commemoration to mark 40 years since the Air India disaster in West Cork. 329 innocent people lost their lives over the skies of Ireland that morning, and the passing of time does not dim the scale of loss and of this atrocity,” Micheal Martin mentioned in a submit on X.
According to The Air India Flight 182 Archive, maintained by the McMaster University, the Ahakista memorial was unveiled on June 23, 1986, on the first anniversary of the bombing and consists of a backyard, a sundial, and a rounded stone wall inscribed with the names of every one that died.
Family members of the passengers and crew of the aircraft collect yearly at varied memorials set for the victims.
According to RTE, the Irish public service broadcaster, some 60 kinfolk of the victims have been represented on the annual ceremony on Monday (June 23, 2025) in Ahakista close to Bantry, the closest level on land to the crash web site.
“The ceremony at the memorial monument began with a minute’s silence at 8.13 a.m., the exact time the explosion occurred on Air India Flight 182. It was followed by tributes from the families and Hindu and Christian readings,” it mentioned in a report.
