Kargil war victory celebrations
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 18: During his three-day visit to the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, President Ram Nath Kovind will visit Drass in Kargil district to pay tributes to brave soldiers on 22nd anniversary of victory of the Indian troops over Pakistan on July 26.
The President, who is supreme commander of three Services, will be visiting Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh from July 25-27 as exclusively reported by the Excelsior today.
Official sources told the Excelsior that during three-day visit, Kovind will fly from Srinagar to Drass in Kargil district on July 26, the day Indian security forces had decisively won the limited war against Pakistan by pushing back the Pakistani troops from Kargil heights after 60 days of conflict.
July 26 every year is celebrated as ‘Kargil Vijay Diwas’ by India.
This time, however, the Army is bracing up for celebrations as the President will be visiting the Kargil War Memorial at Drass, which is located at the height of 10,800 feet from the sea level and is known as second coldest place in the world.
According to sources, Army chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane is likely to receive the President at Drass. They said Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat might also visit Drass on Kargil Vijay Diwas.
In 2019 also, Kovind was scheduled to visit Drass to pay tributes to martyrs and join Kargil victory celebrations but his plane couldn’t take off from Srinagar due to bad weather. He had to cancel his visit to Drass then.
Drass is visited every year on Kargil Vijay Diwas either by the Defence Minister or the Army chief. Almost all Defence Ministers of the country have visited Drass to offer their tributes at Kargil War Memorial, mostly on July 26 when the Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated by the country.
Around 500 Indian soldiers were martyred in nearly 60-day long Kargil war from May to July. It was on July 26, 1999 that last Pakistan army troopers and infiltrators were forced to flee from the heights marking the Indian victory.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had last month end visited Ladakh on a three-day visit including the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh where the Indian troops are engaged in a standoff with People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China for more than a year. Though the two sides have disengaged from certain points, talks for disengagement from other points are still on.
Meanwhile, the President is likely to address University convocation in Kashmir during his July 25-27 visit.
“Detailed schedule of the President’s three-day tour is expected to be released during next couple of days,” sources said, adding that security has been put on high-alert in view of the VVIP visit.
In the next few days, all places to be visited by the President will be taken over by the National Security Guards (NSG) commandos.
Meanwhile, according to sources, top Army Commanders will be visiting Drass ahead of the President of India’s visit to finalize arrangements for Kargil Vijay Diwas celebrations.
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