Continuing a tradition that he started after becoming the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on Thursday celebrated Diwali with the armed forces in the border district of Kachchh in Gujarat.
PM Modi celebrated the festival with the personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF), Army, Navy and Air Force near the Sir Creek area in Kachchh district where he offered sweets to jawans.
Modi reached Lakki Nala in Sir Creek area after landing at Koteshwar in Kutch from Ekta Nagar.
In a video shared by officials, Modi, wearing a BSF uniform, can be seen offering sweets to the personnel on board a patrol vessel.
In a post on X, PM Modi said, "Glad to have celebrated Diwali with our brave personnel from the BSF, Army, Navy, and Air Force at Lakki Nala in the Creek Area, Kutch. This area is both challenging and remote. The days are scorching hot and it also gets cold. The Creek area has other environmental challenges as well."
Addressing the soldiers on the occassion, the prime minister said, "We see 1 Army, 1 Air Force and 1 Navy. But hey have joint exercises we see them as 111."
He said that the current government is such that it will not compromise with even an inch of the country's land. "There is such a government in this country that cannot compromise with even an inch of the country's land" he said.
"Keeping in mind the needs of the twenty-first century, today we are equipping our armies, our security forces, with modern resources. We are putting our Army in the league of the world's most modern military forces. The basis of these efforts of ours is self-reliance in the defence sector," he added.
Earlier in the day, the prime minister paid floral tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the Statue of Unity in Ekta Nagar on the birth anniversary of India's first Home Minister which is celebrated as National Unity Day.
Since taking office in 2014, PM Modi has celebrated Diwali with soldiers in different parts of the country. In 2014, the prime minister visited Siachen and the next year, he went to the Punjab border.
In 2016, he visited Sumdo in Himachal Pradesh and in 2017 he was with the soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir's Gurez sector. He spent the festival with the armed forces in Uttarakhand's Harsil in 2018, Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri in 2019 and Rajasthan's Longewala in 2020.
In 2021, the Prime Minister celebrate Diwali in Kashmir's Nowshera and in 2022, he was with the soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir's Kargil. Last year, he visited Lepcha village in Lahul and Spiti District of Himachal Pradesh.