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Kargil Vijay Diwas 2021: President Kovind cancels Dras tour over bad weather, to pay tribute at Baramula instead
President Kovind will instead lay a wreath at the Baramula War Memorial this year to commemorate the fallen heroes of the 1999 conflict on the occasion of the 22nd Kargil Diwas, the army officials added.
On Kargil Diwas 2021, President Ram Nath Kovind won't be laying a wreath on Monday at the Kargil War Memorial due to bad weather in Ladakh's Dras, news agencies reported, citing officials of the Indian Army familiar with the development. President Kovind will instead lay a wreath at the Baramula War Memorial this year to commemorate the fallen heroes of the 1999 conflict on the occasion of the 22nd Kargil Diwas, the army officials added.
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"Bad weather forces cancellation of President Ram Nath Kovind's Kargil visit to mark Vijay Diwas," news agency PTI tweeted on Monday.
President Kovind was earlier slated to mark the 22nd Kargil Diwas on this day by visiting Dras in Ladakh and paying his homage at the Kargil War memorial. He was to be accompanied in his visit by India's Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, according to a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan confirmed.
In 2019, bad weather prevented the president from visiting Drass to participate in the Kargil Vijay Diwas, and instead, he paid his tributes by laying a wreath at a war memorial at the Army's 15 Corps headquarters in Badamibagh in Srinagar.
Meanwhile, CDS Rawat was seen paying a floral tribute at the Kargil War Memorial in Dras, accompanied by Ladakh lieutenant-governor (LG) RK Mathur and Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal.
President Kovind is on a four-day visit to the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. He spent the night in Srinagar and is set to fly to Drass this morning to pay tributes to the Kargil War heroes, according to the official statement. A day later, the President will address the 19th annual convocation of the University of Kashmir in Srinagar.
India 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 60 days of armed conflict on the highlands of Kargil in Ladakh.
Indian armed forces defeated Pakistan on July 26, 1999. Since then, the day is celebrated to rekindle the pride and valour of the soldiers who took part in Operation Vijay, the military campaign with which Indian troops recaptured the mountain heights occupied by the Pakistani army.
