Know what PM Modi underlined on India’s 75th I-day speech! |Video

India celebrated 75 years of freedom on August 15. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech on Independence Day underlines India's journey in a new direction. Prime Ministers usually make new announcements during their Independence Day speech at the Red Fort. Modi's ninth speech did not contain any announcements. Rather than politics, it was a speech that revealed a clear vision of what action plan should be followed in the next 25 years for the progress of the country and its people. 75 years after independence, guns made in India were used for the ceremonial gun salute for the first time. Let’s delve into some points he emphasised on the day’s speech.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi enumerated the ‘Panch Pran’ (five pledges) that all citizens should take to contribute to India achieving the status of a developed nation by 2047, in the 100th year of its Independence. Another highlight of the PM’s 82-minute-long address to the nation was his exhortation for a nationwide campaign against corruption and nepotism, which he defined as the two big challenges facing the country.

“We should focus on the five pledges -- a resolve for a developed India; removing any trace of the colonial mindset; taking pride in our legacy; our strength of unity; and fulfilling the duties of citizens with honesty, which should be done by the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers as well,” said the PM while addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi on the 76th Independence Day. With his government often accused by the Opposition of weakening states’ rights, he underlined his faith in cooperative federalism and the spirit of “team India“, saying that was what he practised when he was Gujarat Chief Minister and a different party (Congress) was in power at the Centre.

He said in this ‘Amrit Kaal’, every Indian is aspiring to see the fast progress of a new India with enthusiasm and impatience. “Our nation has proved that diversity is an inherent strength and the common thread of patriotism makes India unshakeable,” Modi said. The PM made a strong pitch for research and innovation, by adding ‘Jai Anusandhan’ to the slogan of ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyaan.’ The PM had first given the slogan ‘Jai Anusandhan’ at the Indian Science Congress in Jalandhar in January 2019.