NEW DELHI — Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to visit Darjeeling on Saturday, November 7, to mark Diwali celebrations with Indian Army personnel at Bagdogra Airfield and Siliguri, and then to Sikkim, where he will interact with the soldiers guarding the frontier at Nathu La, IANS reported.

Source: IANS

Announcing the programme in a post on X, Singh said: 'Today, on the eve of Diwali, I will meet and interact with Indian Army personnel at Bagdogra Airfield in Darjeeling and at Sukna (Siliguri).' The minister's own post is the primary source for the announcement.

Source: IANS

On Sunday, November 8, when the country marks Diwali, Singh will visit the Sherathang War Memorial in Sikkim to meet the soldiers and pay homage to those who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. 'I will also meet and interact with our soldiers deployed in this region,' he said.

Source: IANS

Received at Bagdogra, then to the Trishakti Corps station

SSB Crack reported that on Saturday the Defence Minister is interacting with Army personnel at Bagdogra Airfield and at Sukna near Siliguri in West Bengal, a key military station associated with the Trishakti Corps (33 Corps), and that on arrival at Bagdogra Airport he was received by West Bengal Minister Shankar Ghosh and Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit.

Source: SSB Crack

The Sherathang War Memorial, in East Sikkim near the Nathu La pass on the India-China border, commemorates Indian Army personnel who laid down their lives guarding the Indo-China frontier in Sikkim, including those who fell during the 1967 Nathu La and Cho La clashes, SSB Crack reported. New Kerala, also carrying the IANS report, described the Sunday visit the same way.

Source: New Kerala (IANS)

A festival practice with frontline troops

The Defence Minister frequently spends festivals with soldiers. Earlier in 2025, Singh celebrated Dussehra with soldiers at the Bhuj Military Station in Gujarat, joining them for a traditional 'Bada khana' and performing Shastra Puja, and he witnessed a multi-agency exercise at Lakki Nala, close to the India-Pakistan border, IANS reported.

Source: IANS

In 2024, he celebrated Diwali with Indian Army personnel at the 4 Corps Headquarters in Tezpur, Assam, and earlier that year marked Holi with armed forces personnel at the Leh Military Station in Ladakh, where he interacted with soldiers, shared sweets and laid a wreath at the Hall of Fame, according to IANS.

Source: IANS

SSB Crack noted that the Nathu La sector visit comes against the backdrop of continuing efforts by India and China to maintain peace and stability along the Line of Actual Control, and that cross-border trade through the Nathu La pass resumed in August 2026 after a suspension of more than six years.

Source: SSB Crack