Srinagar, Oct 24: Defence Minister Rajnath would arrive in Kashmir on Thursday, October 27 on a two-day visit.
Besides visiting some forward posts, Singh would attend an event in Budgam in connection with ‘Infantry Day’ which is celebrated every year on October 27 to commemorate the arrival of the Indian Army in Kashmir at the Budgam Airfield.
Top defence officials said that soon after the landing at Old Airfield here, the Defence Minister would participate in the Infantry Day function at the same place.
Defence officials said that the event would be celebrated to pay obeisance to the soldiers and people of Jammu and Kashmir who were killed while protecting the country.
“It is also to honour the Next of Kin of war heroes who participated in the 1947-48 War,” they said.
Defence officials said that the event would likely be witnessed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Northern Command Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Air Officer Commanding-In-Chief Western Air Command Air Marshal Sreekumar Prabhakaran, and General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps Lt Gen A D S Aujila, along with several other civil and military dignitaries.
“In addition, the Next of Kin of war veterans who travelled across the country to be a part of this mega event will be felicitated,” defence officials said.
After the event, the Defence Minister would arrive at 15 Corps Headquarters where he is scheduled to be briefed about the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir and the status of infiltration.
Defence sources said that on the same day he is likely to meet people, mostly families of Kashmiri soldiers killed in the line of duty.
They said that after spending a night in Srinagar, Rajnath Singh is scheduled to visit some forward posts in north Kashmir on Friday morning and interact with soldiers following which he would fly to New Delhi.