He also struck a note of caution on the current economic, political and security situation in the country, saying there was an urgent need to find immediate solutions to these raging challenges.
"I congratulate everyone on the occasion of the Republic Day but the reality is that we have not succeeded in achieving the targets we had hoped to achieve.
"From economic, political to internal and external security, the country is faced with several challenges which we have to overcome and whose solutions we will have to find," Singh said.
In a veiled attack on the Congress-led UPA Government, he expressed concern over the depleting respect for constitutional bodies, saying the dignity of these institutions had been undermined.
"The dignity of the country's constitutional structures and institutions is in shreds. Their respect has declined considerably," Singh said, adding that a lot would have to be done to restore the lost pride of these institutions.
