JAMMU, Oct 30: While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been celebrating Diwali every year with the troops in forward areas, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Anil Chauhan and all three Service chiefs will also celebrate the festival with the soldiers.
The Prime Minister will visit forward locations either along the Line of Control (LoC) or International Border (IB) with Pakistan or Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China to keep tradition of celebrating Diwali with the soldiers at the frontline. Since he took over as the PM in 2014, Modi has every year been visiting the troops to celebrate Diwali with them.
However, place of his visit is not known yet.
CDS Gen Anil Chauhan will celebrate Diwali with troops at Andaman and Nicobar Command in Port Blair. He will participate in festivities with the troops deployed at the tri-services command.Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Army chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi have reached Assam to celebrate Diwali with soldiers.
Navy chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi will join the celebrations with Naval personnel at Porbandar, Gujarat, a location that frequently witnessed activity related to cross-border smuggling and infiltration attempts from Pakistan.
Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh is celebrating Diwali with the IAF warriors deployed in the Jammu and Kashmir sector, where the armed forces maintain high alert along the Line of Control.
ACM Singh visited some of the forward locations in Jammu today. He took detailed overview of operational readiness at these locations.
He interacted with the Air Warriors and Agniveers.
An official statement issued by the Press Information Bureau said the IAF chief emphasised on the importance of remaining vigilant and prepared all times to safeguard national security concerns. He complimented the Air Warriors for their dedication and selfless duty at the forward locations.
“The visit by the IAF chief during the festival season was a great reflection of commitment towards welfare and motivation of the troops deployed on the frontiers,’’ the PIB statement said.
Prime Minister Modi has made it a tradition to spend Diwali with troops stationed in challenging forward areas, emphasizing his commitment to their well-being and morale. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has also introduced a tradition of ‘Shastra Pooja’—the ceremonial worship of arms—during Dussehra, a practice he began in 2019 when he traveled to France to receive the first Rafale fighter jet for the Indian Air Force.
In a similar gesture, several senior military officers, including the Army chief, recently marked Dussehra with troops stationed in Sikkim and West Bengal, further reinforcing the Government’s emphasis on recognizing the contributions of the Armed Forces during festive occasions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has several times visited forward areas in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh including Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world, to celebrate Diwali festival with the soldiers.
