Smriti Irani celebrates Raksha Bandhan with soldiers deployed at Siachen

Braving the icy heights, Textiles Minister Smriti Irani celebrated Raksha Bandhan on Thursday by tying rakhis to soldiers deployed at the Siachen Base Camp. The minister visited the outpost as part of an initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reach out to soldiers protecting the nation's borders.

Irani dedicated the occasion to jawans at the Siachen glacier Base Camp, the highest battlefield in the world, and praised them for their dedication to duty. She also laid a wreath at the Siachen War Memorial, acknowledging the “supreme sacrifice” made by fallen soldiers.

Addressing the soldiers, the minister said, "We are very proud of the soldiers serving here who have never thought of their own good and of their families. They serve diligently, with passion...so a thanks from a grateful nation."

She later tied rakhis to around 20 soldiers and distributed home-made sweets from Delhi across the camp, stating that, "My mother specially prepared sweets for you all. So, this is not only the affection of a sister but the love of a mother."

On another frontier, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman also tied rakhi to the jawans at Lumla in Arunchal Pradesh along with Home Minister Kiren Rijiju.

“I am very grateful to the Prime Minister who designed this programme. He made us women ministers reach various border posts and ensured that we are here to tie rakhi, thereby making sure the message goes across that the government cares for them," she said.

“It was very touching moment for all of us to directly connect with our jawans at the border on Raksha Bandhan Divas,” Rijiju added in a tweet.

Women and Child Welfare Minister Maneka Gandhi also participated in the initiative and interacted with soldiers at the Indo-Nepal border post at Banbasa.

Union ministers Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Anupriya Patel, Sushma Swaraj and Uma Bharti might also be taking part in Modi's initiative.