Hyderabad: World leaders have extended their greetings to India on its 74th Independence Day.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin congratulated India on its 74th Independence Day in a video message, saying, "may the deep friendship and partnership between our nations and people continue to grow and flourish".
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a tweet on the eve of Independence day, congratulated his Indian counterpart Modi, and the people of India saying "you have so much to be proud of". "Swatantra Diwas ki haardik shubhkamnayen", he said in a tweet in Hindi.
Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday extended greetings to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on India's 74th Independence Day.
Read also:On I-Day, citizens talk about India's achievements and aspirations
"Our sincere congratulations to the people of India, PM Narendra Modi, EAM S Jaishankar, colleagues at Ministry of External Affairs, Embassy of India in Russia and Consulate General of India, Vladivostok on IndependenceDay," Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted.
"Warm greetings from #Latvia to @DrSJaishankar and the people of #India celebrating IndependenceDay," Edgars Rinkevics, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, tweeted.
Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli made a courtesy call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and extended his greetings to him on the occasion of 74th Independence Day. The call came amid the border dispute between New Delhi and Kathmandu and growing internal rift in Nepal's ruling party.
Chinese envoy extends greetings
Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong on Saturday extended greetings to India on 74th Independence Day and said both countries must strive to prosper together in peace and develop a close partnership.
"Congratulations to the Indian government & people on Independence Day 2020. Wish China & India, two great nations with ancient civilization prosper together in peace and develop with closer partnership," Sun tweeted.
Read also:Oli makes courtesy call to PM Modi
On Friday, the Chinese Embassy had issued a magazine titled 'China-India Review' urging India to "stop all provocative acts to ensure that such incidents will not occur again", months after the clashes at the Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh between the two sides left 20 Indian soldiers dead and said the two sides need to build trust rather than suspicion.
"We urge the Indian side to conduct a thorough investigation, hold the violators accountable, strictly discipline the frontline troops and immediately stop all provocative acts to ensure such incidents will not occur again," Sun said.
Indians abroad celebrate I-Day amid pandemic
Indians across the world on Saturday celebrated India's 74th Independence Day by hoisting the tricolour and singing the national anthem and patriotic songs while wearing masks and adhering to the social distancing norms amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thousands of countrymen in New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the UAE, Israel and several other countries marked the day with the national flag fluttering high and the national anthem reverberating at Indian missions abroad.
In Beijing, Indian ambassador Vikram Misri hoisted the tricolour at India House where a large number of Beijing-based Indian diaspora attended the Independence Day celebrations.
Addressing the gathering after the flag hoisting and reading President Kovind's address to the nation.
The Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Gaitri Issar Kumar, hailed the loving bridge of global Indians that rallied round during the coronavirus lockdown to help fellow Indians in need as she led Independence Day celebrations in London.
Her message, which reflected on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reference to the Indian diaspora as a Living Bridge, also highlighted the important role played by people of Indian origin as well as the Indian High Commission in London during the pandemic.