Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday signed off the first Military Literature Festival (MLF) with a call 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, said the Chief Minister, addressing a select gathering.

The Chief Minister had invited the core team members, who had contributed to make the Festival a success, for dinner, as a token of his appreciation. He also presented a small memento to each of the team members on the occasion.

Tracing the journey of the Festival, from its conception to its eventual conduct, Captain 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 in the youth a spirit of nationalism, and encourage them to join the defence forces in the service of the nation.

Being a part of the armed forces is a matter of pride for every India and this Festival would go a long way in strengthening that feeling among youngsters, said the Chief Minister, extending his government’s full support to scale up the Festival further, going forward.

Thanking Captain Amarinder for his active support and participation in the inaugural Festival, Lt General TS Shergill, Senior Advisor to 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.

Raveen Thukral, Media Advisor to CM, who was a key member of the organising committee, was among those present on the occasion.