Defence Minister Rajnath Singh along with General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff visited Jaipur Military Station and addressed veterans of all three services today. He expressed gratitude towards all veterans for their glorious service to the Nation and lauded their sense of National Pride. He also stated that a soldier never retires, "Once a Soldier, Always a Soldier". Mr Singh emphasized that the welfare of veterans is a National priority and creation of Chief of Defence Staff will further facilitate achieving it. After the address, the   Defence Minister also interacted with veterans personally over tea. <br />'' <br />'' Commemorating Veterans Day is a unique initiative of the services to acknowledge and honour the selfless devotion and sacrifice by our veterans. 14th January every year is commemorated as Armed Forces Veterans Day as a mark of respect and recognition of services rendered by all our veterans which also coincides with superannuation of Field Marshal KM Carriappa, OBE, the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army who became a veteran himself on 14 January 1953.<br />''  <br />