Lt Rekha Singh, the wife of Naik Deepak Singh who was killed in Galwan Valley clashes with Chinese troops in June 2020, was on Saturday commissioned into the Army as an officer and has been posted to a frontline unit in eastern Ladakh, officials said.

29-year-old Rekha has been deployed with the Army Ordnance Corps after she completed her training at the Chennai-based Officers Training Academy (OTA).

The officials said Lt Rekha Singh has been posted at a frontline unit in eastern Ladakh.

Her husband, Naik Singh was from the Army Medical Corps, and he was later attached to the 16th Battalion of Bihar Regiment.

Naik Singh was posthumously awarded Vir Chakra in 2021 for showing indomitable courage in rendering medical support to the injured soldiers during the clashes.

Vir Chakra is the country's third-highest wartime gallantry award after Param Vir Chakra and Maha Vir Chakra.

Twenty Indian Army personnel laid down their lives in the fierce hand-to-hand combat in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley clash on June 15, 2020, an incident that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

According to his Vir Chakra citation, he played a pivotal role in rendering treatment and saving the lives of more than 30 Indian soldiers.

"Naik Deepak Singh displayed unmatched professionalism in hostile conditions, unflinching devotion and made supreme sacrifice for the nation," it said.

"Woman Cadet Rekha Singh, wife of Late Naik(Nursing Assistant) Deepak Singh, #VirChakra(Posthumous) got commissioned into #IndianArmy after completing her training from #OTA #Chennai.," the Army tweeted.

It said Deepak Singh made the supreme sacrifice during the Galwan Valley clashes.

First batch of women officers commissioned into Artillery regiments

For the first time, the Indian Army has inducted five women officers into its artillery regiment.

The women officers have joined the Regiment of Artillery after successfully completing their training at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai on Saturday.

Military sources said the women officers who joined the Regiment of Artillery are Lt Mehak Saini, Lt Sakshi Dubey, Lt Aditi Yadav and Lt Pious Mudgil.

Out of the five women officers, three are posted to units deployed along the borders with China and the other two in "challenging locations" near the frontier with Pakistan, the sources said.

The commissioning of women officers into the Regiment of Artillery is a testament to the ongoing transformation in the Indian Army, a source said.

In January, Chief of Army Staff Gen Manoj Pande announced the decision of commissioning women officers into artillery units.The proposal was later approved by the government.