On Kargil Vijay Diwas, Army Chief appeals Kashmiri militants to Shun Militancy
Malik Sameed
Srinagar 26 July(KNB): India on July 26, 2019 celebrated the 20th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas to mark the success of ‘Operation Vijay’ and to remember the sacrifice of the Indian soldiers who lost their lives during the 1999 India-Pakistan Kargil War.
President Ram Nath Kovind paid homage to the soldiers on Kargil Vijay Diwas at Badami Bagh Cantonment in Srinagar. The President was earlier scheduled to visit Kargil War Memorial in Dras.
However, the visit was called off due to bad weather.
He tweeted, “On Kargil Vijay Diwas, a grateful nation acknowledges the gallantry of our Armed Forces on the heights of Kargil in 1999. We salute the grit and valour of those who defended India, and record our everlasting debt to those who never returned, Jai Hind!”
On the occasion, Army chief General Bipin Rawat asked the Kashmiri youth to shun the path of violence saying this would not let them live long and think of their parents for a better future.
Rawat said, “We are trying to motivate their parents and civil society giving them an opportunity to surrender.”
Prime Minister Narender Modi took on twitter to mark this day and paid tribute to Kargil Vijay Diwas by sharing old pics of 1999 kargil war and said “During the Kargil War in 1999, I had the opportunity to go to Kargil and show solidarity with our brave soldiers,” he said on Twitter. The prime minister said that in 1999, he was working for the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
Defense minister Rajnath singh also paid rich tribute to Kargil Vijay Diwas and said in the Lok Sabha that “Pakistan can neither fight a full-fledged nor a limited war with India and is waging a proxy war. (KNB)