Defence Minister Rajnath Singh celebrated Diwali with Indian Army personnel at the Sherathang War Memorial near Nathu La in Sikkim on Sunday, paying homage to the soldiers commemorated there and telling the troops on duty that the festival lamps lit in homes across India burn brighter because of their watch on the border. "The Diwali lamps that we are able to light in our homes today, it is because of the sacrifice of our brave soldiers," he said, extending festive greetings to the soldiers and their families.

Source: ANI

Singh was accompanied by Chief of the Army Staff General Dhiraj Seth, Eastern Command chief Lt Gen VMB Krishnan and Lt Gen Man Raj Singh Mann, General Officer Commanding of the Trishakti Corps (33 Corps), whose troops are deployed in Sikkim's forward areas. He commended the soldiers' courage, professionalism and high morale in harsh high-altitude conditions, often spent away from their families during festivals.

Source: Press Information Bureau via BharatShakti

Likening soldiers to diyas, the Defence Minister said that just as a Diwali lamp silently fights darkness, troops silently assure the nation of its security while citizens celebrate in peace. Advanced technology alone cannot compensate for a soldier's absence, he said, adding that the conduct, uniform, language and restraint of military personnel shape the Army's image among local communities, and urging troops to keep strengthening the bond of trust with residents of Sherathang and adjoining areas.

Pointing to the names inscribed at the memorial, Singh noted that the soldiers honoured there had come from across the country — Nagaland, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Assam among them. "I am standing here in Sherathang and I feel that all of you are like a single lamp," he told the troops.

Source: ANI

The Defence Minister also visited the Baba Harbhajan Singh Memorial to pay his respects. Such memorials are not merely reminders of past sacrifice, he said, but enduring sources of inspiration that preserve collective memory and strengthen patriotic pride, and he recalled that about 26,000 names of martyrs are inscribed at the National War Memorial in New Delhi, established under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.

Source: Press Information Bureau via BharatShakti