Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met soldiers at Nowshera sector in the border district of Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir on the occasion of Diwali.
Addressing the soilders, PM Modi said, "Our soldiers are the 'suraksha kawach' of 'Maa Bharti'. It is because of you all that people of our country can sleep peacefully and there is happiness during festivals."
"I have spent each Diwali with soldiers guarding our borders. Today, I have brought along with me the blessings of crores of Indians for our soldiers here," he added.
Since taking over as prime minister, Modi has made it a point to meet troops in a border region on Diwali, starting from a visit to Siachen in 2014.
Official sources shared photographs of him at an Army post in Nowshera.
Army chief General M M Naravane had carried out an aerial reconnaissance of forward areas, including Rajouri, on Wednesday and he was briefed about the prevailing security situation along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu region.
An Army operation against terrorists has been going on through the forest belt in the Poonch-Rajouri area. This has been the longest such operation in the recent past and it entered the 26th day on Thursday.
Meanwhile, when Modi left his residence in the morning, there were minimal security arrangements in place and no traffic route was deployed to minimise any inconvenience, official sources said.
