PM Modi I-Day speech: “Self-reliance is not limited to import-export, but linked to our own strengths and capabilities”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch with policy prescriptions for economic- and security-related reforms for self-reliance in his Independence Day address, stating that for any nation, even today, the yardstick of aatma samman (self-respect) remained aatmanirbharta (self-reliance), while at the same time warning of a conspiracy to change the demographic make up of the country.  

The speech was peppered with substantive announcements on reforms, which he presaged by stating that “self-reliance is not limited to import-export, Rupees, pounds or dollars but linked to our own strengths and capabilities.”

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The speech gains importance in the oblique reference to challenges faced by India in the face of the 50% tariffs on Indian goods announced by U.S. President Donald Trump. Prime Minister Modi said India needed to be bigger by its own strength not by trying to reduce the footprint of another country, “economic greed of some countries is evident”, without naming names.

Starting with the deployment of Indian arms and weapons systems during Operation Sindoor which he said had perplexed the enemy, Prime Minister Modi said self-reliance in defence and economy were the cornerstone of a developed India.

Economic reforms

He announced two major task forces, one to initiate second generation reforms of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, eight years after its introduction, and a high powered task force for next generation economic reforms.

“You (Indians) will get a Diwali gift, the task force on second generation GST reforms will result in major relief in prices of essential goods,” he said. In a move to give a fillip to employment generation, he said the government will create a new corpus of ₹1 lakh crore, the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana, which would give a ₹15,000 one time grant to first time employees in the private sector and incentives to the private sector to create employment. He said, the government also aims to reduce the compliance cost for Medium Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) and relief from fear of arbitrary legal actions to give a fillip to the sector that creates employment.

Defence issues

While lauding made-in-India weapons and weapons system deployed during Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Modi declared that India will be building a “Sudarshan Chakra” shield weapon system by 2035 to not only shield military and civilian areas but to also strike back in a precise, targeted manner, underscoring India’s commitment to strategic autonomy. He added that youngsters should work towards making sure that Indian fighter jets would have a made in India engine at its heart.

Internal security

Prime Minister Modi made a special mention of the anti-Naxal operations especially in Chattisgarh where he said terror corridors had become green corridors. He did however warn of a “conspiracy to change the demographic character” of the country, especially in border areas. He announced the set up of a High Powered Demographic Mission, which would go into the challenges posed by this issue.

“I would like to alert the nation about a concern, a challenge. Under a well-thought-out conspiracy, country’s demography is being changed, seeds of a new crisis are being sown. Infiltrators are snatching away the livelihood of the youth of my country. Infiltrators are targeting the sisters and daughters of my country. This will not be tolerated. These infiltrators mislead innocent tribals and capture their land. The country will not tolerate this. When demographic change takes place in border areas, it causes a threat to national security...No country can hand it over to infiltrators...So, I would like to say that we have decided to start a ‘High-Power Demography Mission,” he said.

Energy and agro security

Repeating that he would stand like a wall between the world and the interests of Indian farmers, a reflection on the asks of the U.S. in its tariff negotiations with India, Prime Minister Modi said the need of the hour was to reduce fertilizer dependency on other countries.

Noting that a major part of India’s Budget was concerned with procuring fuel and energy from other countries, he said India will aim, by 2047, to increase its capacity of nuclear energy 10-fold via its 10 nuclear energy plants, and also announced that the National Deep Water Exploration mission will try and harness India’s deepwater energy resources. Alternative energy routes will also be explored, including hydroelectric and solar power.

Self-reliance in critical minerals was also flagged by Prime Minister Modi, with the launch of the National Critical Minerals Mission, to explore 1,200 sites where such minerals are to be found.

Mention of RSS

Prime Minister Modi singled out the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mothership of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar, for praise as that organisation is to hit its century mark, calling it a golden page of Indian history devoted to service, “probably the largest NGO in the world.” This was the first time any Prime Minister has done this during an Independence Day speech, a reference to reports of differences between the BJP and its ideological parent body not seeing eye to eye with regard to the next BJP president.

The address with its substantive announcement made history for other reasons as well. It is the longest ever by any Prime Minister of independent India and ran for 103-minutes breaking Mr. Modi’s own 98-minute record from the 78th Independence Day last year.

He also surpassed former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s record by this his 12 consecutive speech from the Red Fort, second only to Jawaharlal Nehru who delivered 17 Independence Day addresses in a row.