Srinagar
For the fourth consecutive year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated Diwali with soldiers, this time near the Line of Control (LoC) in the landlocked Gurez area of Bandipore district in north Kashmir on

Thursday.

The Prime Minister, accompanied by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Devraj Anbu, interacted with Army and BSF jawans at the Brigade Headquarters of the Army at

Dawar, 140 km from here.

“Our forces protect our motherland with utmost valour, displaying highest traditions of sacrifice and dedication”, the Prime Minister wrote on Twitter after spending two hours with the soldiers. This is for the

fourth consecutive year since he took over that the Prime Minister joined the armed forces on Diwali, two of these in Jammu and Kashmir. He first celebrated Diwali with troops at Siachen in 2014.

“We exchanged sweets and interacted. Happy to know that jawans practice yoga regularly,” Modi said, adding that this would help them while serving the country’s borders and become yoga trainers after

their retirement.

The Prime Minister after celebrating the festival with the troops tweeted: “Glad to have celebrated Diwali with our brave Army, BSF jawans in the Gurez valley….” He further tweeted that spending time with

jawans “gives me new energy” and he loved to celebrate the festival with them as he considered them his family members.