Leh: President of India Droupadi Murmu will be undertaking first visit to the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir in May during which she will visit Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world and Srinagar.
Tentative dates for visit of the President being worked out in Ladakh are from May 3-5. However, the President’s Secretariat is yet to release the schedule officially, official sources said.
In the Union Territory of Ladakh, the President’s visit is likely to be confined mostly to Leh while in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, she might have brief halt at Srinagar, the sources said.
Official sources also said that as per tentative schedule being worked out by the President’s Secretariat in consultations with Army, Indian Air Force (IAF) and administration of Ladakh, Droupadi Murmu will reach Leh where she will be received by top Commanders of Army and IAF besides Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Brig (Retd) BD Mishra and senior officers of civil and police administration.
She is scheduled to fly to Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world located at a height of 18,875 feet from sea level and interact with the Army personnel deployed there in extreme hostile weather conditions to defend the strategic boundaries with Pakistan.
The President will be accompanied by top Army Commanders during her visit to Siachen Glacier who will brief her about Army personnel’s deployment at the highest battlefield. She is expected to stay at the Glacier for an hour.
However, her visit to Drass War Memorial in Kargil district which was set up in the memory of Army and IAF personnel who attained martyrdom in 1999 Kargil war fought between Indo-Pak troops lasting nearly two months, is not yet final.
On April 8, Droupadi Murmu flew a sortie on the Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam.
During her stay in Leh, the President is expected to visit the places of religious and historic significance besides meeting the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, top Army Commanders and other dignitaries.
Sources said, Murmu might fly to Srinagar before returning to the Union capital. In such a case, she will meet Army Commanders at Badami Bagh Cantonment.
This will be her first visit to the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir after her election as first tribal woman President of India in July last year. Even during campaigning for election of the President, Droupadi Murmu hadn’t visited Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. While J&K has no MLAs, who constitute Electoral College for the President’s election, due to delay in Assembly elections, Ladakh hasn’t been granted the Legislature. However, six Lok Sabha members from the two UTs had cast votes in the election.
The President’s visit to the Union Territory of Ladakh assumed significance as she happens to be the Supreme Commander of 3 Services and Sino-Indian troops are engaged in eyeball-to-eyeball position at various points on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh for last three years now. However, disengagement has also taken place from some of the friction points.
Situation in Eastern Ladakh is one of the major topics of discussion in ongoing five-day conference of top Army Commanders in New Delhi from April 17-21. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to address the conference tomorrow.
Besides Eastern Ladakh, security scenario along LAC with China in other States and Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir and other strategic issues across the country are being discussed at the conference.
