PM Modi celebrates Diwali with soldiers at Rajouri, Poonch

Earlier in the morning, the Prime Minister directly flew to Army Brigade Headquarters at Bhimber Gali in the border district to interact with the troops. Though it was his first visit to the state to celebrate Diwali post removal of Article 370, he had come here to celebrate the festival on earlier two occasions since 2014.

In the last two months, LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts have been witness to intense mortar shelling and small arms fire by Pakistani troops who have been targeting the forward Indian positions and civilians without any provocation. On various occasions, they have even targeted schools making children remain confined within the four walls of their respective educational institutions for several hours.

Modi started the practice of interacting with troops serving in tough areas on Diwali soon after taking over as the prime minister in 2014 when he celebrated the festival of lights at Siachen in Ladakh region with the soldiers.

Sources said that four helicopters came to J&K and one landed in Rajouri and three others in Bhimber Gali. One of the helicopter was said to have been used by the Prime Minister.

In 2015, Modi’s visit to the Punjab border on Diwali coincided with 50 years of 1965 Indo-Pak war. In 2018, he celebrated the festival in the icy terrain near the Indo-China border in Uttarakhand with the Army and the ITBP personnel.

Meanwhile, Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked small arms fire along the LoC in Sunderbani sector. The Indian Army retaliated.