At 70, India regains the spirit of youth

ON Aug 15, India is celebrating 70 years of independence. It is an important milestone for the world's largest democracy and the second-most populous nation on earth, not just because of the remarkable journey of seven decades, but also because of rekindled energy, enterprise, optimism, citizen participation and a national resolve usually associated with the start of a nation's journey. At 70, India is regaining the spirit of youth.

It is a moment to celebrate in Singapore, too, because of our ties of history and kinship, for Singapore's association with India's freedom struggle in Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's Indian National Army and Mahatma Gandhi's ashes immersed in the waters of Singapore.

Though India gained independence through a peaceful freedom struggle, our beginning was anything but peaceful. We had to unite a country fragmented into provinces and 572 princely states; heal a society bleeding from partition and burdened by historical disparities; and build an economy ravaged by colonialism.