Bhuj/IBNS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday celebrated the Hindu festival Diwali with soldiers in the Kutch district of Gujarat.

Modi exchanged sweets with the personnels from Border Security Force (BSF), Indian Army and Air Force at Lakki Nala in Kutch.

Several pictures have been shared by the government.

Ever Since he came to power in 2014, Modi celebrates Diwali with the soldiers every year.

Modi on Rashtriya Ekta Diwas

Earlier in the day, Modi delivered a powerful speech from the Statue of Unity on the occasion of independence activist Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's 149th birth anniversary.

Modi attended the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day) in Gujarat.

The Prime Minister said, "Today the whole country is happy that after seven decades of independence, the resolution of one country and one constitution has been fulfilled. This is my biggest tribute to Sardar Saheb.

"For 70 years, Baba Saheb Ambedkar's Constitution was not implemented in the entire country. Those who chant the name of the Constitution had insulted it so much. The reason was the wall of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir."

"Article 370 has been buried forever. For the first time, voting was done without discrimination in this assembly election. For the first time, the Chief Minister of that place has taken oath on the Constitution of India.

"This scene must have given immense satisfaction to the makers of the Indian Constitution, their souls must have found peace and this is our humble tribute to the makers of the Constitution," he added.