New Delhi, March 13 -- Lieutenant R Madhavan Pillai, a veteran of the Indian National Army (INA), will mark his 100th birthday on Thursday by paying tribute to the country's fallen heroes at the National War Memorial and placing a wreath at the statue of revolutionary leader Subhas Chandra Bose at Kartavya Path, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday.

Pillai is one of the last surviving veterans of INA, the officials said.

Born in Burma (now Myanmar), Pillai belonged to a family that originally came from Tamil Nadu's Sivagangai district. He joined the Indian Independence League, a political organisation founded by expat Indian nationalists, before enlisting in the Azad Hind Fauj (INA) of Bose in 1943 when he was 18.

He served ...