Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unfurled the national flag at the Red Fort to mark the 73rd Independence Day.

Modi arrived at the 17th century monument amid as huge crowd awaited him.

Earlier he paid tribute to the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajghat and drove straight to the Lahori Gate of the Red Fort, where he was greeted by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik and Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra.

Later, he received a Guard of Honour from a contingent of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Delhi Police. He then unfurled the national flag as a 21 gun-salute greeted the nation.

The Prime Minister earlier in the day greeted the nation "Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Indians. Jai Hind!" on Twitter and also wished them on the auspicious occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

This will be his sixth consecutive address to the nation as the Prime Minister ever since the BJP-led NDA first stormed to power in 2014.

This year''s event marks the participation of 3,500 girl students drawn from 41 government schools in Delhi; 5,000 boy spectators and 700 NCC cadets from 17 schools displaying ''strength in unity'' through the formation of the words Naya Bharat, a Ministry of Defence statement had said.