PM Modi marks Diwali with jawans in Rajouri, feeds them sweets

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday offered sweets to soldiers in the forward areas of Rajouri district along the Line of Control (LoC) while celebrating this year's Diwali with them. He posted a short video on his official Twitter account in which he can been seen in a combat jacket, feeding sweets to soldiers under a camouflaged tent. 

PM Modi flew to the Army Brigade Headquarters in Rajouri town and interacted with the troops a few hours after Pakistani army targeted forward posts in the district. In a series of tweets, he shared a number of pictures of the celebration with the jawans. While he can be seen offering sweets to jawans in one picture, he is seen saluting alongside Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, and Northen Army commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh. On his way back to the from Rajouri, he also interacted with air warriors and personnel of the army at Pathankot Air Force Station. In 2018, PM Modi spent Diwali with the soldiers at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) at Harsil village near the India-China border.

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'India wali Diwali'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also launched a campaign 'India wali Diwali', urging people to celebrate the festival by lighting the homes of those who need it. The PM tweeted a video featuring Bollywood Actor Rajkummar Rao and captioned it with: "Let us make this Diwali about lighting the lamp of happiness in the lives of others. Let us make this #India Wali Diwali."

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Diwali Mann Ki Baat

Extending Diwali greetings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this Sunday's Mann Ki Baat batted for "festival tourism". He said that people should welcome everyone from different states and countries while celebrating festivals such as Holi and Pongal. In his monthly address, he also referred to the unique "Swachh Siachen" campaign launched by soldiers to clean up the icy battlefield of 130 tonnes of trash. He said the feat is remarkable as nothing decomposes in the icy heights easily.

With the country celebrating the 550th Prakash Utsav or birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in November, the prime minister also referred to his teachings of peace, harmony, and equality.

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