The push to "swadeshi" or indigenous goods got yet another push from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, as India consistently hardens its stance against the US tariff regime affecting international trade.
“Businessmen should keep a big board outside their establishments, saying they sell ‘swadeshi’ goods,” the PM said, referring specifically to the shopping season ahead on account of a series of festivals.
He was speaking at an event in Ahmedabad in his home state of Gujarat.
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“Now Navratri, Vijay Dashami (Dussehra), Dhanteras, Deepawali, all these festivals are coming,” Modi noted.
{{/usCountry}}“Now Navratri, Vijay Dashami (Dussehra), Dhanteras, Deepawali, all these festivals are coming,” Modi noted.
{{/usCountry}}“These are celebrations of our culture but they should also be celebrations of self-reliance,” he suggested, “Therefore, I want to reiterate my request to you once again that we must adopt a mantra in our lives: whatever we buy will be 'Made in India'; it will be indigenous.”
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He added, "I also encourage businesses to refrain from selling items sourced from other countries. These small yet impactful steps can play a significant role in driving our nation's progress and prosperity.
He said sellers should feel proud to display a board saying, “Mere yahaan swadeshi bikta hai (I sell swadeshi).”
Modi has pushed for ‘Vocal for Local’ and ‘Make in India’ over his 11-year tenure as PM so far, though the Opposition has sought to puncture the narrative by saying manufacturing has not seen an uptick in this time.
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More recently, though, the PM's ‘swadeshi’ pride movement is being seen in the context of global trade tensions over tariffs imposed by the US under President Donald Trump. He used the most recent episode of his monthly radio show ‘Mann ki Baat’ to say that true service to the nation lay in promoting indigenous goods.
The call for a pledge from Ahmedabad on Monday came less than a week before a 25% additional tariff kicks in — besides an already-imposed 25% — which the US calls “penalty” for India's buying of oil from Russia despite its war in Ukraine.
India has questioned the very logic, and stressed its sovereignty.
In fact, there has been an underlining of the ties with Russia lately, plus a thaw in the relationship with China.
In the ‘swadeshi’ drive, meanwhile, sweeping allegations of terror funding and the bogey of “love jihad” have also made appearances, besides invocations of nationalism and pride.
“Take a pledge on Raksha Bandhan to protect the country; that we will buy ‘swadeshi’,” union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said to mark the Hindu festival centered around brothers protecting women.
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath gave his reasons: “Profits earned by foreign companies are being used to fund terrorism, Naxalism, religious conversion, and love jihad." The theory of “love jihad” claims a planned effort by Muslim men to marry and convert Hindu women.