Extending his heartfelt wishes to India on the country's 80th Independence Day, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday lauded the country’s remarkable progress and its global stature as the world’s largest democracy and fastest-growing major economy.

“I send my best wishes to all who are celebrating India’s 80th Independence Day. The path to a free and independent India was anything but easy, but through the sheer power of will, belief and determination, its dawning heralded a bright new beginning filled with hope. In the eight decades since that most extraordinary of days, India has gone from strength to strength”, read a statement issued by the Australian PM.