Rajnath Singh arriving for 2-Day J&K visit today

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be arriving in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for a two-day visit on Thursday and he will be interacting with troops, besides chairing a meeting of Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports (JIM&WS) at Pahalgam in Anantnag district.

Sources in the Defence establishment told Greater Kashmir that Rajnath Singh will be flown directly to Baramulla in north Kashmir from New Delhi on Thursday morning.

He will interact with troops and will attend the ‘bada khana’ ceremony. He will also likely visit some forward post for interaction with troops, besides in the hinterland in Baramulla.

During his Baramulla visit, Army Chief Manoj Pande, GoC-in-Chief Northern Command, Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi and GOC 15 Corps, Lt Gen ADS Aujla will be present. GOC Northern Command has already landed in Kashmir on Wednesday and the Army Chief is scheduled to arrive on Thursday morning.

Later, Defence Minister will be flown to Headquarters of 15 Corps here where he will be briefed about the prevailing overall situation in Kashmir. He will be briefed by senior Army officers and security apparatus in wake of forthcoming Amarnath Yatra will also be discussed.

Rajnath Singh will also be briefed about counter-terror operation in hinterland in the Valley and measure taken to stop infiltration of terrorists from across the border.

On Friday morning, Defence Minister will be chairing the executive council meeting of JIM&WS at Pahalgam (Aru). The meeting will also be attended by LG Manoj Sinha.

Rajnath Singh, in the capacity of country’s Defence Minister is the President of JIM&WS while as LG Manoj Sinha is the Vice President of the Institute.

The Institute, notably was established in 1983 at Aru, near Pahalgam with a view to provide numerous adventurous activities at one place in close proximity of each other.

Aru, the most picturesque town and sought after tourist destination was chosen, as it fulfilled most of the qualitative requirements. It boasts of being a trekker’s paradise, provides facilities for rock craft, ice craft, stream crossing, and has a glacier in close vicinity and slopes for skiing in winters.

After chairing the meeting, Rajnath Singh will be flown to Jammu to take stock of the situation in the division.

In Jammu, he will be briefed about prevailing security scenarios at LoC and International border.

The LoC and IB in Jammu have been recording dropping of weapons through drones and he will be apprised about measures taken to stop it.