[caption id="attachment_77193" align="alignleft" width="235"] Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures while addressing the nation during the Independence Day function at the Red Fort monument in New Delhi on Monday. — AP [/caption]NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took aim at supporters of "terrorism" in his Independence Day speech on Monday, ratcheting up criticism of Pakistan while avoiding direct mention of month-long protests in Indian-ruled Kashmir. Modi also pitched a vision of national unity and progress in his third annual address from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Old Delhi that, at 94 minutes, was the longest delivered by the 65-year-old leader. Yet it was a broadside against Pakistan, the arch-rival also born out of independence from Britain and partition, that left the strongest impression in a speech that otherwise skirted foreign affairs and focused on his government's own achievements. "What kind of life is this, inspired by terrorism? What kind of government setup is it that is inspired by terrorism?" asked Modi, who delivered the open-air address amid a security lockdown in the Indian capital. "The world will know about it and that's sufficient for me." In keeping with earlier speeches, Modi delivered a report card on efforts to improve the lot of ordinary Indians, reeling off achievements in rural electrification, financial inclusion and health provision. He strongly backed the fight against inflation, endorsing a 4 percent target, within a range of 2 percentage points either way, agreed with Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan. He barely mentioned his government's latest — and arguably most significant — reform achievement: the passage of a key amendment that clears the way for the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST) next year. He said only that the GST would "give strength" to the economy, while thanking opposition parties that, after a drawn-out battle, had come on board to pass the amendment unanimously through both houses of parliament. The GST would unite India's $2 trillion economy and 1.3 billion people into a single market for the first time and, its backers say, boost economic growth and job creation that Modi needs to win a second term at the 2019 general election. The tradition of delivering the annual address from the steps of the 17th-century Red Fort from where Mughal kings ruled Delhi for two centuries dates back to Jawaharlal Nehru's historic "tryst with destiny" speech of 1947. Modi, despite a barnstorming campaign that carried him to the biggest electoral landslide in three decades in 2014, has so far failed to touch the rhetorical heights achieved by India's first prime minister. But, sporting a red, pink and yellow turban, he did indulge in some trademark wordplay to say India was moving from "swaraj," or self rule in Hindi, to "surajya" — good governance. Modi said his government had built more than 20 million toilets and brought electricity to thousands of villages. "Today I can say that in such short time, more than 20 million toilets have been built in India's villages and more than 70,000 are free of open defecation," Modi said to loud applause. "Today I am proud to say that even though we haven't even completed half of those 1,000 days yet, we have already brought electricity to 10,000 of those 18,000 villages." Government figures released last year showed more than 300 million people in India — the world's fastest-growing major economy — still had no access to electricity. Per-capita electricity consumption is barely one third of the global average. In a lengthy speech, Modi said he had striven to streamline India's regulatory regime, including income tax filing and passport applications, while extolling the economic growth rate since he came to power. "One society, one dream, one resolution, one destiny
