'Swadeshi' needn't mean boycotting every foreign product, explains RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday said that 'Swadeshi' does not necessarily mean boycotting all foreign products. He asserted that only those technologies or materials may be imported which the country lacks traditionally or are not available locally. 

'Whatever is suitable for us'

Talking about the relevance of being self-reliant and swadeshi in the wake of COVID-19, he suggested that the pandemic has made it clear that globalisation did not yield desired results and one economic model cannot be applicable everywhere. 

"Mutual cooperation among self-reliant countries while considering the world as one family and not one market, seems to be the economic model required for the post-COVID world," Bhagwat said while speaking at a virtual book launch event. "Swadeshi does not necessarily mean boycotting every foreign product. We will purchase whatever is suitable for us, that too, on conditions laid out by us," Bhagwat said.

"We will take everything which is good for us from around the world. 'Aano bhadra krtavo yantu vishwatah' (Vedic mantra meaning, Let noble thoughts come to me from all directions). But what we take from outside should be according to our needs," he said.

'We are progressing in a better direction'

Citing a few examples when traditionally available products and technologies were overlooked for imported ones, Bhagwat emphasised on the need for change in mindset and not considering domestic items as inferior.

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Highlighting that India's current economic policy focuses on prosperity, he said: "After independence, we did not implement our economic policy in order to prevent ourselves from suffering losses due to influence from the West and other foreign countries. Following this, many locally available products and technologies were overlooked in favour of foreign items. It is good that now we are progressing in a better direction."

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"We should think with confidence about our comprehensive integral vision, relevant policies and proper implementation to actualise our economic goals," he said.

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Describing the recently-announced National Education Policy as a "step in the right direction" to make India self-reliant, he said such policies will help India realise the potential of its people and of traditional wisdom. The concept of swadeshi which talks about promoting local products and restricting the inflow of foreign investment and items features prominently in RSS ideology. Its affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch has been at the forefront of a campaign to boycott Chinese products. 

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(With agency inputs)