Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday remarked that even little children did not want to play with foreign-made toys and that this reflects the spirit of a self-reliant India.

He made the statement during his address to the nation from Delhi’s Red Fort on the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence.

“I came to know that even five to seven-year-old children said that they did not want to play with foreign-made toys,” Modi said. “I salute them. This shows that the spirit of Atmanirbhar Bharat [self-reliant India] runs in their veins.”

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The prime minister also said that it was the first time in 75 years that the tricolour got the ceremonial salute at the Red Fort from a made-in-India gun. He said that all Indians would feel inspired on hearing the sound of the made-in-India gun.

The howitzer gun used for the ceremonial salute was designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, according to PTI.

Modi praised the armed forces for taking steps to realise the goal of a self-reliant India. “I want to salute the soldiers of this country from my heart,” the prime minister said, according to the news agency. “The manner in which my vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat has been collectively adopted by the soldiers and officers of the armed forces, I can not salute them enough.”

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The prime minister said that ensuring a self-reliant India was the responsibility of every citizen, every government and every unit of society. “Atmanirbhar Bharat is not a government agenda or programme,” he said. “It is a people’s movement that we must take ahead.”

Modi called on the private sector to play a key role in the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, and said that India can manufacture goods for the world.

“The space sector has seen the most progressive space policy being in place in India,” he said. “I call on the private sector to provide the world with goods, which is also a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

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