While national security, border issues, and terrorism have featured regularly in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day addresses especially in his second term Pakistan has been directly mentioned only twice in the nearly 1 lakh words he has spoken from the Red Fort since 2014.
The last clear mention of Pakistan was in 2016, when Modi referred to the Peshawar terror attack in his longest Independence Day speech to that point. Kashmir has also been missing from his speeches since 2022, although it appeared more frequently in his second term than in his first or during Manmohan Singh's 10 years in office.
In comparison, Singh used the word Pakistan much more in his 10 years as PM 12 times between 2004 and 2008, and five times from 2009 to 2013.
Singh's initial term tended to use a conciliatory tone, talking about bilateral talks, whereas his second term took a stronger line connecting Pakistan with terror.
"As regards Pakistan, we expect them to not allow their land to be used for terrorism against India," Singh had said in 2010.
In his last 2013 speech, he added that better relations demanded that Pakistan stop anti-India activity from its land.
References to neighbours, however, have been a recurring feature of Independence Day addresses across decades.
Pakistan was referred to by Jawaharlal Nehru during his later years in office, and featured frequently in Indira Gandhi’s addresses, including a direct reference in her 1968 speech. Her remarks often blended firm warnings with calls for peace, reflecting the geopolitical realities of the Cold War era and Indo-Pak tensions.
The change from frequent direct references to more oblique allusions in recent times is a shift in the tone in which leaders discuss sensitive foreign policy issues from the Red Fort. Analysts opine that although terrorism and border security are still the core themes, the language has become more inclined towards domestic strength, economic growth and strategic self-reliance, with overt mentions of individual neighbours being reserved for other platforms.
