New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will celebrate this year’s Diwali with Indian Navy personnel off the coast of Goa. The celebration is set to mark the success of Operation Sindoor, India’s counterstrike following the recent Pahalgam terror attack.
Since assuming office in 2014, Prime Minister Modi has maintained a tradition of celebrating Diwali with members of the armed forces, using the occasion to honour their dedication and sacrifice. Over the years, he has spent the festival at various forward posts and military bases across the country, expressing solidarity with soldiers guarding India’s borders.
In his first year as Prime Minister, Modi visited the Siachen Glacier in Ladakh to share Diwali with troops stationed at the world’s highest battlefield. In 2015, he celebrated the festival at the Dograi War Memorial in Amritsar, paying tribute to soldiers of the 1965 Indo-Pak war. The following year, he travelled to Sumdo in Himachal Pradesh to meet Army and Border Security Force personnel near the India-China border.
In 2017, the Prime Minister visited the Gurez sector in Jammu and Kashmir, while in 2018 he celebrated Diwali with Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel in Harsil, Uttarakhand. The next year, he was in Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, meeting soldiers stationed along the Line of Control.
During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Modi visited Longewala in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer, the site of a key battle during the 1971 war, to celebrate the festival with the forces. He continued the tradition in 2021 at Nowshera, Jammu and Kashmir, followed by a visit to Kargil in 2022 to honour the heroes of the Kargil War.
In recent years, he has celebrated Diwali with troops in Lepcha, Himachal Pradesh, and Sir Creek in Gujarat. This year’s celebration with naval personnel reaffirms the Prime Minister’s long-standing commitment to recognising the armed forces’ service and spirit, even during the nation’s most cherished festival.
