Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said that India hopes to send a spacecraft to the moon this year and called it "an important milestone".

"This year we hope to send an Indian spacecraft, Chandrayan, to the moon. It will be an important milestone in the development of our space programme," he said on the occasion of India's independence day.

"I want to see a modern India, imbued by a scientific temper, where the benefits of modern knowledge flow to all sections of society," he added.

'India determined to meet terrorism challenge'

Condemning the terror attacks in Bangalore and Ahmedabad and other parts of the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India was determined to crush terrorism.

He also urged state governments, political parties, civil society groups and social and religious leaders to cooperate with the central government in "rooting out terrorism from our country."

"Terrorism, extremism, communalism and fundamentalism have emerged as major challenges to the unity and integrity of our country. The recent terrorist attacks in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and other parts of the country have shocked the nation," he said in his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

"What words can I find to condemn such acts of barbarism? I share the sorrow and grief of people affected by terrorism. The government of India will take concrete steps to rehabilitate and help such families," he said.

Serial bomb blasts May 13 in Jaipur killed 61 people and injured over 200 people. And similar bombings in July in Bangalore and Ahmedabad killed a woman and over 55 people dead respectively.

The prime minister said the need of the hour was "hard work and unity of purpose".

"(Today's challenges) require a politics of consensus, not confrontation. This requires dialogue among communities, not discord. The challenge of communalism, of extremism and of terrorism cannot be won by a nation divided."

'Pakistan's support to terrorism can hit ties'

Pakistan's support of terrorism directed against India can harm bilateral ties, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned, adding that terrorists were enemies of the people of both countries.

Addressing the nation from the Red Fort on Independence Day, the prime minister said the suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul in July that killed over 50 people and for which New Delhi blamed Islamabad had cast a shadow on efforts to normalize bilateral relations.

"The recent blasts in our embassy ... have cast a shadow over our efforts to normalize relations with Pakistan and to bring a lasting and honourable peace in our region. I have personally conveyed my concern and disappointment to the government of Pakistan," Manmohan Singh said.

"If this issue of terrorism is not addressed, all the good intentions we have for our two peoples to live in peace and harmony will be negated. We will not be able to pursue the peace initiatives we want to take.

"The terrorists and those who support them are enemies of the people of India and Pakistan, of friendship between the two countries and of peace in the region and the world. We must defeat them."

The prime minister added that India, the biggest country in South Asia, wished all its neighbours well.

"We welcome the strengthening of democratic forces in our neighbourhood, especially in Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan," he said.