Prime Minister Narendra Modi ringed in Diwali 2018 with Army jawans and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel at Harsil near the India-China border in Uttarakhand on Wednesday morning. He later visited the Lord Shiva's Kedarnath Temple to offer prayers.


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PM Modi offered sweets to the Jawans at Nilang valley at Indo-China Border at 11000 ft near Harsil Station.


“Greeting the jawans on the occasion, the Prime Minister said that their devotion to duty in the remote icy heights, is enabling the strength of the nation, and securing the future and the dreams of 125 crore Indians. He said that Diwali is the festival of lights; it spreads the light of goodness and dispels fear. He said that the jawans, through their commitment and discipline, are also helping to spread the sense of security and fearlessness among the people,” read a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).


Modi has been visiting soldiers on Diwali since 2014, the year he was elected as the Prime Minister.


In 2014, PM Modi had spent his Diwali in Siachen with jawans. Next year, he celebrated Diwali with BSF jawans on the LoC near the Indo-Pakistan border in Punjab. In 2016, he was with ITBP jawans in Himachal Pradesh. 


Lats year, PM Modi celebrated the festival of light with Army soldiers at Gurej in Jammu and Kashmir. 


Later in the day, the PM offered prayers a the Kedarnath Temple. 



The PM had laid down the foundation stone of Kedarpuri reconstruction projects during his visit to the temple last year.


Several new features including a meditation cave 400 metres above Kedarnath has been constructed. Built at a secluded spot 400 metres above the shrine, the cave will be shown to the prime minister from a distance as he is not scheduled to go there, Rudraprayag District Magistrate Mangesh Ghildiyal, said.


With agency inputs