<span style="font-size: large;">Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reached Rajasthan's Jaisalmer border to celebrate Diwali with the Border Security Force (BSF) and Indian Army troops deployed at the Longewala post.</span>

<span style="font-size: large;">“Today the whole world is troubled by expansionist forces. Expansionism is, in a way, a mental disorder and reflects 18th-century thinking. India is also becoming a strong voice against this thinking,” PM said taking a dig at China. </span>

<span style="font-size: large;">Addressing the troops, PM Modi said, “I would like to extend my Diwali greetings. I have brought the greetings of every Indian to you today,” he said.</span>

<span style="font-size: large;">“You may be at the snow-capped mountains or in deserts, but my Diwali is complete only when I meet you. My happiness doubles when I look at the joy on your faces,” he added.</span>

<span style="font-size: large;">Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, Army Chief M.M. Naravane and Border Security Force (BSF) Director General Rakesh Asthana will also join the Prime Minister in the celebration. </span>

<span style="font-size: large;">About 100 BSF troops along with Army troops will participate in the celebrations.</span>

<span style="font-size: large;">This Diwali celebration program is being held at Longewala, the Thar desert. It is originally a BSF Post and a strategic point en-route to capturing vast tracts of land and also a pivotal theatre of war in engaging India on the western front during the 1971 India-Pakistan War.</span>

<span style="font-size: large;">Last year, the Prime Minister had visited Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district to celebrate Diwali with the army men guarding the Line of Control (LoC).</span>

<span style="font-size: large;">Modi was at the border positions of Uttarakhand to celebrate Diwali with the forces in 2018. He visited the Gurez sector of north Kashmir in 2017 and spent his Diwali with soldiers deployed there.</span>.