PM Modi interacted with the soldiers at B G Brigade headquarters on Diwali
Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated Diwali with the Army today in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri. He flew to the Army Brigade Headquarters in the border district to interact with the troops deployed along the Line of Control (LoC), officials said.
This is the Prime Minister's third visit to celebrate Diwali with the troops in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014; the first after the state's special status was scrapped under Article 370.
His visit also coincided with the Infantry Day celebrations, observed to mark the landing of first Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 to push back Pakistan-supported intruders.
The troops said they were "happy and proud" on meeting PM Modi and one soldier told news agency PTI that his "gesture came as a morale booster for the soldiers working round the clock to secure the country's borders."
PM Modi feeds sweets to soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri on Diwali
The soldiers said the prime minister asked them to continue their vigil along the border for peace in the region.
PM Modi's Diwali visits to troops started in 2014 after he spent the festival at Siachen in Ladakh with soldiers, besides visiting the flood victims in Srinagar.
Last year too, he celebrated Diwali with the Army and the ITBP personnel in the icy terrain near the India-China border in Uttarakhand.
(With inputs from PTI)