PM Modi arrives in Kolkata to attend key defence meet on Monday

Kolkata, Sep 14 (IANS) After his visit to the Northeast, Prime Minister Modi arrived in Kolkata on Sunday evening. The Prime Minister landed at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at 6:45 p.m. Union Minister of State for Education and DoNER, Sukanta Majumdar, welcomed him. 

The Prime Minister was on a tour of Northeast India for the last two days. He spent the first half of Sunday in Assam. From there, he came to Kolkata in the evening. The Prime Minister will stay at Raj Bhavan on Sunday night.

On Monday morning, he will inaugurate a key defence meet at Fort William (the Indian Army's Eastern Command headquarters).

Although PM Modi came to Bengal on an official visit, the enthusiasm of BJP workers and supporters was palpable during his visit. BJP workers and supporters lined up outside the airport with drums to welcome the Prime Minister. Seeing the enthusiasm of the party workers and supporters, PM Modi stopped his convoy, stood outside the car and waved his hand. From the city airport, his convoy went to Raj Bhavan in central Kolkata.

On Monday, PM Modi will inaugurate and address the 16th Combined Commanders’ Conference-2025 in Kolkata. It is the apex-level brainstorming forum of the Armed Forces that brings together the nation’s top civilian and military leadership to exchange views and lay the groundwork for the future development of India’s military preparedness.

Held once in two years, the 16th Combined Commanders’ Conference would be held in Kolkata from September 15-17. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Year of Reforms – Transforming for the Future’.

The conference will focus on reforms, transformation and change, and operational preparedness, reflecting the Armed Forces’ emphasis on institutional reforms, deeper integration, and technological modernisation while sustaining multi-domain operational readiness. Deliberations will focus on strengthening the Armed Forces to remain agile, decisive, and future-ready in a rapidly evolving geo-strategic environment.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Anil Chauhan, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, and senior Secretaries from other Ministries will also attend the deliberations, along with officers from the three Services and the Integrated Defence Staff.

Both Rajnath Singh and Ajit Doval also arrived in the city in the evening to attend Monday's programme.

PM Modi will visit the Vijay Durg in Fort William at 9:30 a.m. to attend the conference. The event is likely to continue till 1 p.m. Prime Minister Modi will leave for Kolkata airport at 1:40 p.m. From there, he will head to Bihar.

In view of PM Modi's visit, Kolkata Traffic Police announced traffic restrictions in the city for Sunday and Monday.

According to the advisory, movements of all types of goods vehicles will be restricted on key roads within Kolkata Police jurisdiction from 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday and again from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday in addition to normal restrictions on those days.

Such roads are VIP Road, Ultadanga New Flyover, EM Bypass, Maa Flyover, AJC Bose Flyover, AJC Bose Road, Hospital Road, Lovers Lane, Khidderpore Road, J&N Island, Red Road, RR Avenue and Raj Bhaban South Gate.

--IANS

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