Sri Lankan Military on Tuesday sought formal approval of the Colombo Municipal Council to begin work on a monument to commemorate the Indian soldiers who died fighting the Tamil rebels.

"I have asked the Mayor this morning to get us the necessary clearances to begin work," Lt General Lionel Balagalle, Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff told PTI.

He said the idea of a erecting a war memorial for the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was suggested by him when he met with his Indian military counterparts in December and had talks with Defence Minister George Fernandes.

He wanted the names of the 1,155 Indian troops who died in Sri Lanka during their 32-month deployment in the island and the names of non-military personnel such as the CRPF (central reserve police force) who sacrificed their lives to get them engraved at the site.

Both President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were supportive of the idea, said Balagalle.