Indian PM vows to root out corruption on Independence Day

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday reiterated his government's commitment to root out corruption from the system, saying that there has been no corruption charge against his government over the past 15 months.

"India can be free of corruption. We have taken steps to correct the system. Ask yourself. Has corruption gone or not? Did the doors of corruption in the country close or not? We have done it," Modi said.

The prime minister, who was addressing the nation from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort in the national capital on the occasion of the country's 69th Independence Day, made the comments in the wake of allegations by the main opposition Congress party against some of his top leaders and ministers.

On the Indian government's crackdown on illegal wealth, he said the new law on black money has made people fearful of stashing black money abroad. "I want to reaffirm that this nation will get rid of corruption. We can rid the country of corruption, we have to start from the top," he said.

The Congress party was booted out last year after 10 years in power because of its alleged involvement in a number of corruption scandals like the telecom scam, Commonwealth Games scam and coal scam, and its failure to tackle inflation.