India marks 77 years of independence amid 'border, unemployment' concerns

India turns 77 as it celebrates its Independence Day amid issues of border security and unemployment, as well as political changes in the region, experts told Anadolu.

For the first time since being elected in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort with a diminished political mandate.

Amid heightened security cover in the capital, some 6,000 guests attended Modi’s address in person.

On its Independence Day, New Delhi-based analyst Niranjan Sahoo told Anadolu that India is faced with “many challenges,” including unemployment and border security issues.

“Internally, India has many uphill challenges,” said Sahoo.

He said the foremost challenge is maintaining political stability in turbulent Manipur and India-administered Kashmir.”

The northeastern Indian state of Manipur saw ethnic clashes last year, while India-administered Kashmir has remained without an elected government since 2018.

Women's safety and security remain a top concern as the country according to data from India's National Crime Records Bureau witnessed 31,516 rape cases in 2022.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Kolkata in West Bengal to condemn the rape and murder of a medic on August 9 demanding better safety for women.

On Thursday, Large crowds marched in Kolkata to condemn the killing, with a candlelight rally at midnight coinciding with the start of India's Independence Day celebrations.

Relations with neighbours

India and China are also entangled in a border dispute along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.

“India's border regions, particularly the northeast, face the most serious challenges owing to the tense situation in Myanmar and Bangladesh,” he said.

Sahoo also said that “rising unemployment,” particularly youth unemployment in the demographically significant north, is becoming a major headache for policy makers in New Delhi.

While the Modi government “claims to have created millions of jobs in the last few years, this hardly raises confidence, given the number of youth protests one has witnessed in northern states in the last few years,” he said.

Myanmar, which is entangled in an internal ethnic conflict, has seen people taking refuge in India.

India is “struggling to manage its relations with Bangladesh in the background of the sudden ouster of Sheikh Hasina, a long-time ally of India, and the possible takeover of power by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its alliance partners,” said Sahoo.

With developments in Maldives, which returned Indian soldiers home, and now in Bangladesh, said the analyst, “India's neighbourhood policy faces the gravest challenge.”