PM Narendra Modi unfurls national flag from ramparts of Red Fort

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unfurled the national flag for the 11th time in a row from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day.

In his address on the country's 78th Independence Day, Modi said it is a day to pay tribute to the countless people who made sacrifices and struggled for the country's freedom. "The country is indebted to them," he said.

Modi paid condolences to the families who lost their members in the recent national disasters.

His first Independence Day address of his third term takes him past Manmohan Singh, who unfurled the tricolour 10 times from the ramparts of Red Fort during 2004-2014, and places him behind Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, who did the honours 17 and 16 times respectively.

Before reaching Red Fort, he paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial.