Prime Minister Narendra Modi met security forces in Kachchh, Gujarat, carrying forward his annual Diwali meetings with security and armed forces personnel. Performing formal dressing in an army uniform, the Prime Minister fed sweets to the BSF soldiers, army men, and naval and air force personnel at Lakki Nala in Sir Creek.
Since coming to power in 2014, Narendra Modi celebrated Diwali with service personnel in different parts of India. His visits included Siachen in 2014, the border of Punjab in 2015, Sumdo in Himachal Pradesh in 2016, and the Gurez sector of Jammu and Kashmir in 2017.
Other elaborate visits have been made to Harsil in Uttarakhand in 2018, Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, and Longewala in Rajasthan in 2020. He was in Nowshera, Kashmir, last year, in Kargil this year, 2022, and in Lepcha, Himachal.
In his first visit to Siachen in 2014, PM Modi said 125 crore Indians could celebrate Diwali because of soldiers. He said this is to honor the festival on behalf of their families back in their respective countries.
This morning, the Prime Minister also attended the National Unity Day to mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, to whom the nation owes its integration after its independence in 1947. The grand ceremony was held at Kewadiya, Gujarat, home to the world’s tallest statue, the Statue of Unity, dedicated to Sardar Patel.
Taking advantage of the significance of this year’s National Unity Day, which falls on Diwali, the Prime Minister declared two years of celebration for Sardar Patel’s 150th birth year.
