Triumphant mood as India marks 60 years of independence

INDIA celebrated the 60th anniversary of its independence from British rule yesterday in a triumphant mood, with many here feeling the country is finally taking its rightful place as a major global player.

“I assure you that for each one of you, and for our country, the best is yet to come,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the nation in his traditional Independence Day speech.

But with many of India’s 1.1 billion people being left behind by the country’s lightning economic growth, he warned: “We must not be overconfident.”

Yesterday’s celebration came a day after neighbouring Pakistan marked its independence with colourful displays of national pride. Tens of thousands rallied throughout the world’s second-most populous Muslim nation, waving the country’s green and white flag. Others held prayer gatherings at home.

Britain’s partition of the subcontinent in 1947 brought one of modern history’s biggest mass migrations as 10 million people crossed the newly created frontier — and one of its bloodiest chapters as sectarian and religious fighting killed hundreds of thousands.

Pakistan’s independence came a day earlier than India’s so that the last British viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, could attend both ceremonies.

Lingering disputes — especially over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir — led to three wars between the south Asian neighbours.

Yesterday, the fault lines that have long divided India also were apparent, with security tight across the country, especially in places where insurgencies are simmering. In Kashmir, mobile phone services were shut down in a bid to prevent violence.

Police also stepped up security around the Taj Mahal, saying there was a specific threat to attack the site.

Mr Singh focused on the challenges faced by a country where children are more likely to be malnourished than in Africa: “India cannot become a nation with islands of high growth and vast areas untouched by development, where the benefits of growth accrue only to a few.”

Conspicuously absent from his speech was any talk of neighboring Pakistan — India’s longtime rival.