Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh signs off the first Military Literature Festival in Chandigarh on Thursday. Tribune photo

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 15

Signing off the first Military Literature Festival (MLF) held here last week, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh yesterday called for making the event more holistic through the participation of authors and veterans from other nations, including Pakistan.“It would be interesting, for instance, to see the 1965 war veterans from India and Pakistan come face to face to share their experiences in a new environment,” the CM said while addressing a gathering.Tracing the journey of the festival from its conception to its eventual conduct, Capt Amarinder said the event proved to be an exciting platform to promote understanding and awareness among the people, especially youth, about India’s defence forces. He hoped the festival would imbibe a spirit of nationalism among youth and encourage them to join the defence forces.“Being part of the armed forces is a matter of pride for every Indian and this festival would go a long way in strengthening that feeling among youngsters,” he said while extending his government’s support to scale up the event.Lt Gen TS Shergill (retd), senior adviser to the CM, said the Military Literature Festival Society had been set up as a permanent body and would continue to initiate various activities to promote exchange of ideas and experiences in this field.