For the past 11 continuous years, PM Narendra Modi has celebrated Deepawali, the festival of lights with the soldiers. PM Modi started this beautiful tradition from the very first Deepawali on taking over as the PM in May 2014. The very first Deepawali date in the year 2014 was in Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world. The connect and empathy PM Modi established with his very first Deepawali with the troops has only grown over the years. For us from the uniformed fraternity, it is always a good guess as to where PM Modi would celebrate Deepawali this year. This year in 2025, PM Modi celebrated Deepawali with the sailors of Indian Navy on the coveted INS Vikrant, something I couldn’t guess correctly.
In India, the prime ministers right from the independence have not followed any specific pattern of interaction with the soldiers. The prime ministers have left the job of direct interaction with the troops to the Raksha Mantri or the Rajya Raksha Mantri. There is no single instance right from the independence in 1947 to 2013 when any prime minister (India had 13 of them till then) of India had celebrated Deepawali with the soldiers at the borders of the nation. Prime Minister Modi as the 14th PM of India changed all that and today the soldiers at the borders know that their prime minister is going to be with them to celebrate Deepawali on behalf of the nation.
The venue of each Deepawali with the PM Modi has been carefully selected to convey a specific message. In the year 2015, it was Dograi War Memorial in Punjab which commemorates the famous victory of India over Pakistan in the 1965 war when Indian troops captured Dograi village on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan. I had the honour of looking after this memorial as Brigade Major from 2000 to 2002. In the year 2016, the venue was Sumdo in Himachal Pradesh. Sumdo is a border village opposite Tibet in Lahul and Spiti district of HP. The Deepawali celebrations of 2016 were obviously a subtle message to Chinese who claim Sumdo as part of Chinese Tibet.
In the year 2017, PM Modi celebrated Deepawali with the soldiers at Gurez Valley on the Line of Control, Jammu & Kashmir, with a stern message to Pakistan after teaching them a lesson with Uri Surgical Strike of September 2016. In the year 2018, PM Modi was in Harsil, Uttarakhand, a militarily important high-altitude location opposite China. Harsil has a special place in my heart as the place where I commenced my journey in uniform as a commissioned officer in 1986. In the year 2019, PM Modi went to Rajouri, on the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir, after the Pulwama attack on 14 February 2019 and India’s retaliation through Balakot airstrike on 26 February 2019. It is important to mention that during all these visits, the personnel from para-military forces located in the vicinity are also present in good numbers.
In the year 2020, PM Modi celebrated Deepawali with the soldiers at Longewala post in Rajasthan, the site of India’s famous victory over Pakistan in December 1971 war. Hindi movie ‘Border’ directed by JP Dutta and released in the year 1997 was based on the Battle of Longewala. In the year 2021, PM Modi went to Nowshera on the Line of Control, Jammu & Kashmir. In the year 2022, PM Modi was in the famous Kargil, Ladakh to celebrate Deepawali with the troops. In the year 2023, PM Modi went to Lepcha in Himachal Pradesh, a remote border post located at an altitude of 15,000 feet. Last year, PM Modi was in Sir Creek, Gujarat to celebrate Deepawali with the Army jawans and BSF soldiers. Sir Creek is a maritime boundary dispute between India and Pakistan in the Rann of Kutch.
PM Modi has been advocating much better synergy between Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. To prove this point, he celebrated this year’s Deepawali on the decks of mighty INS, Vikrant. INS Vikrant is India’s second aircraft carrier in service with the Indian Navy. INS Vikrant is the first indigenously built aircraft carrier and it was a message to the defence sector to be Atma Nirbhar in defence. PM Modi also saluted the grand victory of India over Pakistan in the Operation Sindoor. India has the best combat edge over Pakistan in the maritime domain. The message to Pakistan through this visit is clear. In the next phase of Operation Sindoor, Indian Navy is going to hit Pakistan hard like never before.
Right from the year 2014, PM Modi has been a hands-on prime minister as far as defence issues are concerned. He fulfilled the long-standing demand of One Rank One Pension (OROP) in the year 2015 and further improving the pension in the year 2019 through OROP-2. He approved the appointment of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) from 1 January 2020 to bring about the much-needed tri-service synergy. It was his focus to build Made in India military hardware which gave an outstanding account during Operation Sindoor. India is emerging as a major defence manufacturing hub with focus on exporting world class products.
President of India is also the Supreme Commander of Indian Armed Forces. But the appointment of Supreme Commander is largely a ceremonial one. In the current era where wars and conflicts are a regular feature, India needs a full -time Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. The routine affairs of defence already are looked after by the Raksha Mantri and Raksha Rajya Mantri but the major decisions concerning national security are taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by the prime minister. The nuclear triad in India is also controlled by the prime minister. It is therefore the right time to formalise prime minister of India as the Commander of Indian Armed Forces. The armed forces of Viksit Bharat @2047 certainly need the head of the executive of the nation to lead them as the Commander.
An Indian soldier, airman or sailor fights for maintaining the territorial integrity of our borders, be it land, airspace or maritime. Over the years, it is the highest morale and motivation of the uniformed community which has proved to be our biggest battle winning factor. When we citizens take a holiday on Deepawali, PM Modi’s Deepawali celebrations with the soldiers who are away from their families provides that humane touch to their patriotic spirit. Deepawali is celebration of victory of Lord Rama over Raavan. With each Deepawali celebration with the soldiers at the borders, PM Modi wishes them to emerge victorious in every war and conflict. The nation too recognises the genuine gesture of PM Modi every Deepawali and joins him in wishing a happy Deepawali to the Indian Armed Forces. Jai Bharat!
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