Modi chides Pakistan and urges Indian unity in Independence Day address

NEW DELHI // The Indian prime minister took aim at supporters of “terrorism” in his Independence Day speech on Monday, ratcheting up criticism of Pakistan while avoiding direct mention of protests in Indian-ruled Kashmir.

Narendra Modi, 65, also pitched a vision of national unity and progress in his third annual address from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Old Delhi that, at 94 minutes, was the longest delivered by the leader.

Yet it was a broadside against Pakistan, the arch rival also born out of independence from Britain and partition, that left the strongest impression in a speech that otherwise skirted foreign affairs and focused on his government’s own achievements.

“What kind of life is this, inspired by terrorism? What kind of government set-up is it that is inspired by terrorism?” asked Mr Modi, who delivered the open-air address amid heavy security in the Indian capital.

“The world will know about it and that’s sufficient for me.”

A paramilitary police commander was shot dead in fresh violence in Kashmir on Independence Day, while four suspected separatist militants were killed in gun battles.

The commander was injured in an ambush on a patrol in Srinagar and died in hospital, while two militants were killed in a shootout which followed the attack.

Two other militants were shot after crossing the de facto border with Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Kashmir has witnessed violent protests since a July 8 gunfight in which security forces killed a popular commander of the Pakistan-based militant group Hizbul Mujahideen. At least 54 people have been killed and thousands hurt in clashes with the security forces.

Mr Modi met leaders of national parties on Friday to seek ways to end the worst unrest in Kashmir since 2010.

Both India and Pakistan rule Kashmir in part but claim it in full. The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two wars since independence 69 years ago over the Muslim-majority region where the Line of Control, or de facto border, still runs roughly where the guns fell silent in 1948.

In keeping with earlier speeches, Mr Modi delivered a report card on efforts to improve the lot of ordinary Indians, reeling off achievements in rural electrification, financial inclusion and health provision, including the building of more than 20 million toilets for the poor to end the widespread practice of outdoor defecation.

He strongly backed the fight against inflation, endorsing a 4 per cent target, within a range of 2 percentage points either way, agreed with Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan.

He barely mentioned his government’s latest – and arguably most significant – reform achievement: the passage of a key amendment that clears the way for the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST) next year.

He said only that the GST would “give strength” to the economy, while thanking opposition parties that, after a drawn-out battle, had come on board to pass the amendment unanimously through both houses of parliament.

The GST would unite India’s $2 trillion economy and 1.3 billion people into a single market for the first time and, its backers say, boost economic growth and job creation that Mr Modi needs to win a second term at the 2019 general election.

The tradition of delivering the annual address from the steps of the 17th-century Red Fort from where Mughal kings ruled Delhi for two centuries dates back to Jawaharlal Nehru’s historic “tryst with destiny” speech of 1947.

Mr Modi, despite a barnstorming campaign that carried him to the biggest electoral landslide in three decades in 2014, has so far failed to touch the rhetorical heights achieved by India’s first prime minister.

But, sporting a red, pink and yellow turban, he did indulge in some trademark wordplay to say that India was moving from “swaraj”, or self rule in Hindi, to “suraj”, or good governance.

“One society, one dream, one resolution, one destiny – we proceed in this direction,” he said.

* Reuters and Agence France-Presse