Like Nehru, Modi will oversee the hoisting of the Indian tricolour in its place, followed by a military parade through Delhi’s old city. Unlike the founding leader, Modi is sourcing suggestions for topics in his speech through an official mobile phone app. Modi has sought in recent remarks to link independence day to Mahatma Gandhi’s Quit India movement, which launched on the same date in 1942, aiming to push the British out of the subcontinent. Independence day this year should be a similar “day of resolve”, Modi has said, and trigger five years of work to transform the country. Though both countries became independent at the same moment, Pakistan marks the event one day earlier than India.

Source: The Guardian August 14, 2017 04:00 UTC