Did not get to call ourselves Indian for 14 yrs: Goa CM

While lamenting the fact that Goa was incorporated into the Indian Union of States 14 years after the independence of the mainland in 1947, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said, that with the complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir earlier this month, India was now completely independent in the real sense.

"Since 2014 we have a Prime Minister who gives us a better present, a future in the form of Narendra Modi as an assured leader. The country has achieved its rightful place in the world under his leadership. As a result of this we have seen that he was once again elected with a full majority," Sawant said in his Independence Day speech in Panaji.

"And to pay back that faith as a solution he has abrogated section 370 and 35A and for the first time India has received complete independence and Kashmir has been fully integrated with India. When passing the triple talaq bill he has fulfilled and ensured that everyone has their rights," the Chief Minister further said.

Referring to the delayed liberation of Goa, the Chief Minister said: "In Goa even though we were liberated in 1961, we remained 14 years behind. We were 14 years late in being able to call ourselves Indians".

Goa was a Portuguese colony for 451 years before the Indian armed forces liberated the region from the colonial yoke in 1961. Sawant also promised to deliver a corruption-free government in Goa, while also urging youth to develop a positive mindset.