PM Modi reaches Himachal's Lepcha to celebrate Diwali with security personnel

PTC News Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Himachal Pradesh's Lepcha village to celebrate Deepawali with the security forces.

Taking to X, PM Modi said, "Reached Lepcha in Himachal Pradesh to celebrate Diwali with our brave security forces."

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Indian Army are stationed at Lepcha, near the Chinese border.

Himachal Pradesh and China share a 260-kilometer border. The tribal Kinnaur district accounts for 140 kilometres of the total length, while the tribal Lahaul and Spiti district accounts for 80 kilometres.

Five ITBP battalions are stationed in 20 posts along the Chinese border.

Last year, Prime Minister Modi celebrated Diwali with soldiers in Kargil, saying Diwali means the "festival of the end of terror" and that Kargil had made it possible.

For several years, the Prime Minister has celebrated the festival with soldiers. In 2019, the Prime Minister celebrated Diwali with soldiers in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, along the Line of Control (LoC).

He referred to soldiers as his family and praised them for protecting the borders even during festivals. He had exchanged Diwali greetings with personnel from the Indian Air Force (IAF) at Pathankot Air Force Station.

In 2018, Prime Minister Modi celebrated Diwali with Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel in Harsil, Uttarakhand. Following that, he prayed at the Kedarnath shrine.

In 2017, the Prime Minister celebrated the Festival of Lights with army soldiers and Border Security Force (BSF) personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora District's Gurez Valley. In 2016, the Prime Minister travelled to Himachal Pradesh to celebrate the festival with members of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police at an outpost. In 2015, he went to the Punjab border to celebrate Diwali with soldiers.

Prime Minister Modi spent Diwali with soldiers in Siachen in 2014. Notably, PM Modi has been visiting soldiers on Diwali since he was Gujarat Chief Minister.