Women ministers celebrate Rakhi at army posts on the border

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 18, 2016: Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal met Border Security Force personnel and celebrated Raksha Bandhan at Attari border on Wednesday.

Minister for food and processing, Badal participated in a cultural event, and even sang Lata Mangeshkar’s ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo’ for the gathering.

“It’s an honour for me to celebrate the festival with my brothers deployed at the border,” she said.

Badal is one of about seven Union ministers making their way to army camps in border regions to celebrate the festival with jawans and security personnel.

Commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman posted a photograph to Twitter from Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang while on her way the border.

Union textile minister Smriti Irani will be visiting Siachen base camp while external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, women and child welfare minister Maneka Gandhi and water resource minister Uma Bharti are also visiting border areas to interact with soldiers and mark the occasion.

Soldiers at Siachen have seen visits by Prime Minister and defence ministers on special occasions but this is perhaps the first time a women minister is visiting Siachen. In 2014, PM Modi visited Siachen on Diwali and interacted with the soldiers.

The initiative comes amid a fresh debate over the army’s presence in Kashmir valley and escalated tension with Pakistan.