Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday extended Diwali greetings to people across the country and confirmed that he would continue his annual tradition of celebrating the festival with the armed forces, spending the day with soldiers guarding the country's borders rather than in the capital.
In a video message shared on X, the Prime Minister described Diwali as a festival symbolising India's determination to overcome darkness, and conveyed his wishes for happiness, peace and prosperity to citizens across the country. "Like every year, I will again be celebrating Diwali with our brave defence personnel," he said. "Once again, greetings to all of you on the occasion of Diwali."
The message, posted a day before the festival itself, underlined a practice that has become one of the most recognisable features of the Prime Minister's tenure. Since he assumed office in 2014, his visits to military establishments and forward locations on Diwali have become a regular feature of the festival, taking him to some of the most remote and strategically significant posts in the country.
The location of this year's celebration has not been disclosed, and the Prime Minister's message gave no indication of where he would spend the day, continuing the pattern of recent years in which the destination is revealed only when he arrives.
The tradition began in 2014, in his first year as Prime Minister, when he spent Diwali at the Siachen Base Camp, the world's highest battlefield, with soldiers posted at altitudes where temperatures fall far below freezing. Since then, the journey has taken him across the length and breadth of the country's borders. In 2015 he was with troops in Punjab near Amritsar, in 2016 at Sumdoh near the China border in Himachal Pradesh, and in 2017 at Gurez in Jammu and Kashmir.
In 2018 he celebrated at Harsil in Uttarakhand, in 2019 at Rajouri, and in 2020 at Longewala in Jaisalmer, the site of the famous battle of the 1971 war. In 2021 he was at Nowshera, in 2022 at Kargil, in 2023 at Lepcha near the China border, and in 2024 at Sir Creek in Gujarat. Last year, in 2025, he marked the festival aboard India's indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, off the coast of Goa and Karwar, where he interacted with naval personnel and offered them sweets.
Each visit has followed a similar pattern: the Prime Minister spends time with soldiers on duty, addresses them, shares sweets and a meal, and speaks about the sacrifices made by those who serve far from their families on a festival day. The visits are also intended as a public acknowledgement of the armed forces, and they have been widely covered each year, with photographs and video from the forward posts becoming part of the Diwali coverage.
Earlier on Saturday, the Prime Minister met Vice-President C P Radhakrishnan and exchanged festive greetings. Sharing an update about the meeting on X, he wrote: "Met Vice President Thiru C P Radhakrishnan Ji and exchanged Diwali greetings." The Vice-President subsequently travelled to Ayodhya on Saturday to participate in Deepotsav 2026, the tenth edition of the annual pre-Diwali festival of lights in the temple town.
The Prime Minister had also greeted citizens on Dhanteras, which marks the beginning of the five-day Diwali celebrations. In a social media post, he said: "Wishing all my fellow citizens boundless happiness on Dhanteras. May the divine grace of Lord Dhanvantari forever fill everyone's life with happiness, peace, and excellent health."
He further invoked Lord Dhanvantari, the deity associated with medicine and healing, while wishing for the well-being of people across the country, saying that he bowed to Dhanvantari, the primordial deity whose lotus feet were revered by gods and demons alike, and who bestowed medicinal herbs and dispelled old age, disease, fear and death.
The five-day Diwali festivities began with Dhanteras on November 6, followed by Choti Diwali on November 7. The main Diwali celebrations, including Lakshmi Puja, fall on November 8, which this year coincides with Kartik Amavasya. Govardhan Puja will be observed on November 9, while Bhai Dooj on November 10 will mark the conclusion of the festivities.
Diwali, the festival of lights, is celebrated across India and by the Indian diaspora around the world, marking the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. In the Prime Minister's message, that theme was linked to the country's resolve, with the festival described as a symbol of India's determination to overcome darkness, a formulation that connected the religious occasion with a broader message about national confidence.
The decision to spend the festival with soldiers has, over the years, become a political statement as much as a personal one. It places the armed forces at the centre of the national celebration, and it contrasts the festival as experienced in cities, with lights, sweets and family gatherings, with the experience of personnel posted at remote borders and forward positions.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly said that being among the jawans has become his regular routine each year, and his message on Saturday made clear that the practice would continue.
For the soldiers who will host him this year, the visit follows the pattern of previous years: a brief respite from the routine of duty, a meeting with the Prime Minister, and a reminder that their service is recognised at the highest level. For the government, it is an opportunity to underline its commitment to the armed forces at a moment when the country is marking its most widely celebrated festival.
As Diwali is celebrated across the country on Sunday, with homes lit and families gathered, the Prime Minister will be spending the day with the men and women who guard the borders, continuing a tradition that has now run for thirteen consecutive years. The location will be revealed in due course, but the message itself was already clear: the festival, for the Prime Minister, is once again to be marked among the soldiers.
The greeting also carried a wider resonance this year, arriving as households across India prepared for Lakshmi Puja and as markets, temples and public spaces filled with the colours of the festival. For families of service personnel posted far from home, the Prime Minister's visit is a reminder that their sacrifice is seen and valued, and for the public it is a prompt to remember, amid the celebrations, those who spend the festival on duty at the borders.
(Reporting based on Business Today and NDTV.)