For second year in a row, PM Modi to celebrate Diwali with jawans

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirnala Sitharaman will be spending Diwali with the troops on the China frontier.

While the defence minister has apready reached Arunachal Pradesh's Upper Dibang Valley, the PM is likely to visit Harsil in uttarakhand.

Last year, PM Modi celebrated Diwali with troops posted along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Gurez Sector and lauded the soldiers for their penance and sacrifice saying he considers them his family.

In an unannounced visit, Modi arrived at Gurez this morning to celebrate Diwali with the army and BSF soldiers posted along the LoC, officials said.

He spent two hours with the soldiers in Gurez valley, which is shouting distance of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and has witnessed many gunfights with infiltrating militants in the past 27 years.

This is the fourth successive Diwali that the prime minister has celebrated with jawans on the border.

Chief of the Army Staff Gen B S Rawat and other senior army officers were present on the occasion.

Modi offered sweets and exchanged greetings with the jawans, the officials said.