LEPCHA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Lepcha village in Himachal Pradesh to celebrate Deepawali with the security forces. “Reached Lepcha in Himachal Pradesh to celebrate Diwali with our brave security forces”, Prime Minister Modi said in a post on X.
Troops of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Indian Army are stationed at Lepcha near the border with China. Himachal Pradesh shares a 260-km porous border with China. Of the total length, 140 km is in tribal Kinnaur district, while 80 km is in the tribal Lahaul and Spiti district.
Five ITBP battalions deployed in 20 posts that guard the border with China.
Last year, Prime Minister Modi celebrated the festival of lights with soldiers in Kargil and said Diwali means the “festival of end of terror” and that Kargil had made it possible.
The Prime Minister has been celebrating the festival with soldiers for several years now. In 2019, the Prime Minister celebrated Diwali with soldiers in the Rajouri district along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.
He had called soldiers as his family and lauded them for guarding the borders even during festivals. He had exchanged Diwali greetings with the Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel at Pathankot Air Force Station.
In 2018, Prime Minister Modi celebrated Diwali with jawans of the Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), at Harsil in Uttarakhand. Following that he had offered prayers at the Kedarnath shrine.
In 2017, the Prime Minister celebrated the festival of light with army soldiers and Border Security Force (BSF) personnel in the Gurez Valley of Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora District. In 2016, the PM went to Himachal Pradesh to celebrate the festival with Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel at an outpost. He visited the Punjab border to celebrate Diwali with soldiers in 2015.
In 2014, Prime Minister Modi spent Diwali in Siachen with soldiers. Notably, PM Modi has been visiting soldiers on Diwali, ever since he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. (ANI)