Prepare yourselves for a self-reliant India: PM Modi to citizens on Independence Day

New Delhi: Delivering his seventh straight Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the call for "Atmanirbhar Bharat" (self-reliant India) has captured people's imagination and become a ‘mantra’ for everyone, as he pushed for raising India's share in global economy.

For how long India will keep exporting raw materials and import finished products, Modi said in his address to the nation on the occasion of India's 74th Independence Day and asked citizens to prepare themselves for a self-reliant India.

The prime minister began his address by paying tributes to freedom fighters and security forces while also remembering Aurobindo Ghose, a freedom fighter and spiritual philosopher whose birth anniversary falls today.

Hailing ''corona warriors'', including doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and sanitation workers who have been continuously fighting the coronavirus pandemic, he said, the country will achieve victory over coronavirus with the resolve of its over 130 crore citizens.

In the midst of coronavirus pandemic, Indians resolve to become self-reliant, the prime minister said, adding this is not a word but mantra for all people.

Vocal for local should be the mantra of the free India, he said.