PM Modi celebrates Diwali with Jawans

18:30 October 27

PM Modi: It is a tradition that people celebrate Diwali with their families, I also decided to celebrate it with my family. So I have come here to celebrate with you. You are my family.

18:27 October 27

Modi celebrates Diwali with Jawans

Modi visited the "Hall of Fame" in Rajouri where he paid homage to the soldiers and citizens, who laid down their lives to protect Rajouri and Poonch sectors. PM termed the Hall of fame as "Parakram Bhoomi, Prerna Bhoomi, and Paavan Bhoomi ".

Prime Minister also visited the Pathankot Airbase to meet the brave air warriors of Indian Air Force (IAF).

Modi, while addressing the soldiers, said that everyone endeavours to travel far and wide to celebrate the festival of Diwali with family members and likewise he too travelled to be with the members of his family, the brave Jawans of the Armed Forces.

Prime Minister recalled the valour and supreme sacrifices made by the Armed forces in October 27 1947, which is also celebrated as infantry day.

Prime Minister also listed the steps being taken by the Government to further strengthen and modernize the Indian defence forces. He added that the Government is committed to taking steps to ensure the welfare of soldiers.

To pay homage and mark their contributions, the government endeavoured to engrave the landmark National War Memorial in the Capital, the Prime Minister said adding that the increasing number of visitors to the Memorial shows the respect accorded by the citizens towards the contributions of armed forces.
 

11:34 October 27

PM Modi celebrates Diwali with Jawans

Jammu:Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Rajouri district on Sunday to celebrate Diwali with Army troops guarding the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. 

The prime minister's visit coincided with Infantry Day celebrations, which is observed to mark the landing of first Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 to push back Pakistan supported intruders. 

Modi directly flew to the Army Brigade Headquarters in the border district to interact with the troops deployed along the LoC, the officials said. 

This is for the third time that the prime minister visited Jammu and Kashmir to celebrate Diwali with the troops in the border state since 2014, and first after the abrogation of Article 370 provisions.

Modi started the practice of interacting with troops serving in tough areas on Diwali soon after taking over as the prime minister in 2014 when he had spent his Diwali at Siachen in Ladakh region with the Jawans, besides visiting the flood victims in Srinagar. 

He visited Gurez sector of north Kashmir in 2017 and spent his Diwali with soldiers deployed there. 

In 2015, he visited the Punjab border on Diwali. His visit coincided with 50 years of 1965 Indo-Pak War. 

The next year, Modi was in Himachal Pradesh, where he spent time with Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel at an outpost. 

In 2018, he celebrated the festival with Army and the ITBP personnel in the icy terrain near the India-China border in Uttarakhand.