Then in Sainik school, now in Kargil: PM Modi, jawan meet after 22 years

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met an Indian army soldier in Kargil on Monday, whom he had met in 2001 at a Sainik school in Gujarat.

Prime Minister Modi met Indian Army soldier Major Amit in Kargil.

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in Kargil on Monday with Major Amit, a soldier of the Indian Army. Prime Minister Modi had met Major Amit in 2001 when the jawan was a student at a Sainik school in Balachadi, Gujarat.

After 22 years, they met again, but this time in Kargil. The jawan has framed the picture of him receiving an award in 2001 from the then chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi. PM Modi and Major Amit posed together with the photo frame after an emotional meeting on Diwali.

Addressing the armed forces here on Diwali, the Prime Minister also recalled his visit to this border region in the wake of the Kargil conflict in 1999, when the Indian military had “crushed the hood of terror”.

“There has not been a single war with Pakistan without Kargil hoisting the victory flag,” he said, adding that Diwali symbolized the “celebration of the end of terror”.

Since coming to power in 2014, Prime Minister Modi has visited several military facilities to celebrate Diwali.

READ | PM Modi observes Diwali tradition, arrives in Kargil to celebrate with jawans