Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation for his customary Independence Day speech from the Red Fort in New Delhi.
This will be Modi’s sixth Independence Day address, and his first since coming to power with an unprecedented mandate.
Modi has used the annual event to announce his government's showpiece programmes like Swachh Bharat, Ayushman Bharat and India’s manned space mission. He has also used the opportunity to present a report card of his government.
He has often invoked India’s rich cultural and spiritual traditions to rally people’s support for some of his pet projects—from cleanliness to ending female foeticide.
Different themes have stood out in Modi's speeches on the occasion.
In 2014, he gave a call for Swachh Bharat and appealed for shunning communalism and casteism to focus on development. He made a strong pro-poor and pro-farmer and pro-youth pitch the next year.
In 2016, he created waves by mentioning Balochistan, a Pakistani region where Baloch nationalists have been fighting the government forces. He gave a call for embracing people of Kashmir in 2017.
