On Saturday, New Delhi launched ‘Suryapath Tiranga,’ a unique campaign that involved over 50 Indian missions worldwide. The initiative showcased images of the Indian tricolour being digitally relayed across multiple time zones, celebrating the nation’s 80th Independence Day.
“Committing ourselves to the service of our nation. #TeamMEA wishes all Indians, at home and abroad, a happy Independence Day. In a spectacular global celebration of India’s Independence Day, the special initiative under ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’, the campaign carried the spirit of the national flag across the world, following the path of the rising sun from Fiji at 1:30 am IST to San Francisco at 8:30 pm IST, the Ministry of Culture said in a statement. Other Indian missions followed suit, commemorating the landmark occasion with flag-hoisting in their respective countries, and then tagging the next mission in the planned campaign, which was announced by the Indian government on August 7. Let’s reaffirm our collective resolve to fulfil the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047. #HappyIndependenceDay #HarGharTiranga,” External Affairs Ministry’s spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X.
The unique global relay began with the Indian High Commission in Suva in Fiji and ended with the Indian consulate in San Francisco in the US, connecting 54 missions and posts across countries and continents and turning the movement of the sun into a “symbolic journey of the ‘tiranga’ across the globe,” officials said. The ‘Suryapath Tiranga’ created a remarkable chain of flag-hoisting ceremonies “spanning more than 19 hours”, geographically linking the Pacific, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, they said. The relay then continued westward through Central and West Asia, including Uzbekistan, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, before reaching Africa and Europe, it said. Mass singing of ‘Vande Mataram’ and the national anthem formed an integral part of the programmes hosted sequentially at these missions and posts, bringing together members of the Indian diaspora, officials and friends of India in a shared expression of patriotism, officials said. The initiative “reinforces the message that the #Tiranga transcends geographical boundaries, bringing together Indians and friends of India across the world,” the Press Information Bureau said in a statement.
