Monitor News Desk
New Delhi: India’s soldiers had given a “fitting reply to those who challenged the country’s sovereignty from LoC to LAC”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, while addressing the country on its 74th Independence Day.
“From LoC (Line of Control) to LAC (Line of Actual Control), whenever India has been challenged, our soldiers have given a fitting response in a language they understand,” said the Prime Minister, referring to both Pakistan and China.
On the clash with China in June at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, in which 20 soldiers died for the country, PM Modi said: “What our jawans can do, what the country can do, the world has seen in Ladakh. Today, I salute all those brave soldiers from the Red Fort.”
“Whether it is terrorism or expansionism, India is fighting both,” the Prime Minister said.
“Today the world stands with India and to get 184 votes out of 192 nations in the UN for a (non-permanent) seat at the UN Security Council is proof,” he said.
PM Modi, wearing a saffron and white safa and a similar scarf that he used as a mask, addressed the nation from the Red Fort for the seventh consecutive year.
In the one-hour 26-minute speech, he focused on the themes of “Aatma Nirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India)”, “Vocal for local” and “Make in India to Make for World”. He also paid tribute to those on the frontlines of the fight against the coronavirus and declared that India had a roadmap ready for the production and distribution of three COVID-19 vaccines that are at various stages of testing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said three coronavirus vaccines are at different stages of trials and a roadmap is ready for production and distribution to every Indian in his Independence Day address today.
PM Modi also announced that a National Digital Health Mission would be announced soon, in which every citizen would get a health ID.
“Today in India, not one, or two, but three vaccines are in the stage of testing. As soon as there is a green signal from scientists, the country is prepared to produce it in large numbers. How the vaccine will reach every Indian in the least amount of time – we have a roadmap ready for that,” the Prime Minister said.
On the National Digital Health Mission, PM Modi said: “Every Indian will get a Health ID card. Every time you visit a doctor or a pharmacy, everything will be logged in this health card in your profile on a national scale. From the doctor’s appointment to the medication advised, everything will be available in your health profile.”
