Dr. Kotnis saved lives of Chinese soldiers during WWII, recall his sisters

Mumbai, July 8 (ANI): Two Indian women have claimed that their brother, Dwarkanath Kotnis, a doctor, saved the lives of many Chinese fighters during the second Sino-Japanese war (1937-45).

"This year's August 15 would be the 65th anniversary of the Chinese victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. During that war, our senior brother Dr. Kotnis saved many fighters' lives by offering medical assistance in China," Xinhua news agency quoted Vatsala, Dr. Kotnis's youngest sister, as saying.

She said that after the Japanese invasion in 1937, a U.S. journalist had appealed to then-Indian National Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru that China was in danger of being occupied, and needed urgent international aid.

"Later, Zhu De, Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese communist-led Eighth Route Army, requested Nehru to dispatch a medical team to China," Vatsala added.

Manorama, Dr. Kotnis's eldest sister, said that Dr. Kotnis gave up his plan to study medicine in Britain, and joined the medical aid mission of volunteer doctors to China.

National Congress leaders, who had denounced the Japanese invasion of China, had sponsored the mission.

Dr. Kotnis was one of five Indian physicians dispatched to China to provide medical assistance during the war in 1938.

He continues to be revered by the Chinese people for his dedication, perseverance, and is widely acknowledged as an example of Sino-Indian friendship and collaboration.

He died in China of epilepsy at the age of 32 in 1945. (ANI)