PM Modi celebrates Diwali with soldiers in Nowshera in Jammu and Kashmir.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, following his tradition to celebrate Diwali with India's armed forces personnel posted at border areas, on Thursday addressed soldiers at Nowshera sector in the border district of Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing soldiers at the Nowshera sector amid 'Jai Mata Di' chants, PM Modi said, "I have spent each Diwali with soldiers guarding our borders. Today, I have brought along with me the blessings of crores of Indians for our soldiers here."
"Our soldiers are the 'suraksha kawach' of 'Maa Bharti'. It is because of you all that people of our country can sleep peacefully and there is happiness during festivals," he said.
"It fills every Indian with pride on the role this brigade played during the surgical strike," PM Modi said to army jawans in Nowshera.
"Earlier, it used to take years together to procure defence equipment for the security forces. The commitment to self-reliance in the defence sector is the only way to change old methods," he said.
"Connectivity in border areas has improved, be it from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, Jaisalmer to Andaman & Nicobar Islands. This has helped us enhance our deployment capability," PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister also distributed sweets among army soldiers and interacted with them.
Since taking over as prime minister, Modi has made it a point to meet troops in a border region on Diwali, starting from a visit to Siachen in 2014. | READ MORE
Official sources shared photographs of him at an Army post in Nowshera.
On Wednesday, Army chief General MM Naravane had carried out an aerial reconnaissance of forward areas, including Rajouri. He was briefed about the prevailing security situation along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu region.
An Army operation against terrorists has been going on through the forest belt in the Poonch-Rajouri area. This has been the longest such operation in the recent past and it entered the 26th day on Thursday.
Meanwhile, when Modi left his residence in the morning, there were minimal security arrangements in place and no traffic route was deployed to minimise any inconvenience, official sources said.
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