President Kovind lays wreath at Kargil War Memorial in Drass, celebrates Dussehra with troops

Jammu: Winding up his two-day visit to the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday celebrated Dussehra with troops and later paid tributes to the fallen soldiers at Kargil War Memorial in Drass. The President flew to Drass from Udhampur-based Northern Command and was received by Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh R K Mathur, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, Kargil war hero and Northern Command chief Lt Gen Y K Joshi among other top dignitaries. Kovind visited the Kargil War Memorial at Drass where he laid a wreath and paid homage to the brave soldiers who made a supreme sacrifice defending the nation at Kargil, officials said. He later celebrated Dussehra with troops in Drass amid slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. Before flying to Drass, Kovind paid floral tributes to former president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam on his birth anniversary at the Northern Command in Udhampur, they said. The President commenced his visit to Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday by arriving in Leh and performed Sindhu Darshan in Shey village while he travelled to Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur area in the evening housing the Northern Command headquarters. He interacted with army troops and their families at Udhampur and had ‘Bada Khana’ with troops on Mahanavami, the concluding day of the nine-day long Sharad Navratri on Thursday night, they said.