On Kargil Vijay Diwas, President Kovind pays tributes to martyrs

President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday saluted the valor of soldiers who laid down lives for the country's safety and security.

During his visit to Dagger War Memorial in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, Kovind said it evokes profound respect for the brave fighters who laid down their lives for the safety and security of the country.

The President, who is on a four-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, was scheduled to visit the War Memorial at Drass in Ladakh to pay homage to Army soldiers, who laid their lives for the country in the 1999 Kargil war. He was to be accompanied in his visit by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, according to a statement by the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

However, bad weather forced the President to cancel the plans and instead he paid tributes to martyrs on Kargil Vijay Diwas at Baramulla. In 2019 also, bad weather had prevented the President from visiting Drass to participate in the Kargil Vijay Diwas.

“”The nation salutes the soldiers and officers of the 19th Infantry Division, who have been safeguarding our borders in the most hostile terrains under adverse weather conditions as our frontline troops,” he wrote in a message in the visitor’s book at the Dagger War Memorial.

The nation celebrates Kargil Vijay Diwas on July 26 every year to mark the anniversary of the Indian Army's victory against Pakistan on this day in 1999, after more than two months of armed conflict on the highlands of Kargil in Ladakh.

On Tuesday, the President will grace and address the 19th Annual Convocation of the University of Kashmir in Srinagar. He will be travelling back to Delhi on the morning of July 28.