Prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the next 25 years were 'crucial' for India's development and future, and made five pledges, or 'paanch praan', to the people of the country. Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort in Delhi on India's 75th Independence Day, the prime minister called on 130 crore Indians to unite in their love for the country and its heritage and to fight against discrimination and slavery of their fellow citizens.

"The way the world is seeing India is changing. There is hope from India and the reason is the skills of 1.3 billion Indians," Modi said. "The diversity of India is our strength. Being the mother of democracy gives India the inherent power to scale new heights."
Modi's words came as millions celebrated 75 years of Indian independence since the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947 that ended nearly 200 years of British colonial rule.
At the time, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said the country was on a path of revival and renaissance.
"A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new," Nehru said. "When an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance."
Seventy-five years later, the India of today is almost unrecognizable from that of Nehru's time.

The five pledges made by PM Modi were:

To work towards the development of India

No form of slavery or subjugation, and to erase all forms of colonial baggage,

To display pride in the heritage of the country,

To find unity among 130 crore Indians, and

That all citizens, including the prime minister, chief minister and other leaders, must fulfill their duties as citizens.