Now playing: 'Ek hai Bharat, Shresth Bharat' featuring PM Modi

A new national integration song featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time has been penned and composed by Kashmiris to recreate the magic of 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara'.

Composed by Santoor maestros of Kashmir — Pandit Bhajan Sopori and Abhay Rustum Sopori — and penned by famed Kashmiri poet Rafiq Raaz, the 4.35-minute national integration song 'Ek hai Bharat Shresth Bharat...' has been produced by the All India Radio and released online on the eve of Republic Day.

The song features Prime Minister Narendra Modi who narrates the opening Stanza 'Ek Hai Bharat Shresth Bharat' in his voice before the singers pick up the lines.

From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, the song has flavors of five regions — East, West, North, South and Northeast, and seven languages — Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Kashmiri and Assamese.

Top notch singers of the country had lend their voice for the song. From Ustad Rashid Khan to Vidushi Bombay Jayashri, Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Shankar Mahadevan, Anwesha, Malini Awasthi, Kaushiki Chakraborty and Abhay Rustum Sopori, the song has all the flavors of the nation. The song also introduces new voices Shahbaz Gul and Masrat-un-Nisa from Kashmir and Iqbal S Qureshi from Gujarat.

"We were called by the Fayaz Shahrayar Sahab of All India Radio and tasked to compose this song. It was a responsibility put on our shoulders to compose a national integration song which could recreate the magic of 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara'. We started three weeks ago and worked 24/7 to compose this song", Abhay Rustum Sopori, one of the composers and vocalists, told DNA.

For the composers it was not possible to include all the states in the song on the pattern of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' given the duration constraint. Therefore it was decided that five regions would be selected with seven languages for the song.

"They wanted us to create the mood of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara for national integration. We had some of the best singers. We have covered all areas. If we covered all the states the song could have become 15 minutes long. I think it is not possible for any person to stay 15 minutes to listen to the song. Therefore we covered five regions and seven languages," said Sopori.

Later there will be a second edition of the song which will feature other regions. "Song will remain the same but the regions will change except Kashmiri and Punjabi. We have composed the audio part of this song. The video will be produced by Doordarshan. Song will remain the same and only they will add the video part to it," said Sopori.

The highlight of the song is the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has featured for the first time by giving opening narration to the song. "There was set protocol followed about Prime Minister. All India had recorded the Prime Minister Narration part. We mixed it with the original song," said Sopori.