Indian Air Force (IAF) Squadron Leader Siddharth Vashisht, who was piloting a Mi-17 chopper when it crashed in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district, was cremated with full military honours at Chandigarh today. The funeral was attended by his wife Aarti Singh, also a Squadron Leader, besides relatives, military officers and local politicians. Photographs from the solemn occasion showed Aarti Singh holding back tears as senior civil and defence officers paid homage to her husband, who had lost his life at a time of rising tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack. The funeral pyre was lit by Siddharth Vashisht's father even as the IAF conducted a gun salute.
