Editorial: Swadeshi slogan gets a renewed push

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to the people to buy indigenous goods must be seen as part of government’s efforts to protect the home turf amid tariff tensions

As the new American tariff regime draws closer, the “swadeshi” slogan gets a renewed push with India staying firm and gearing up to absorb the impact. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to the people to buy indigenous goods and to the business establishments to display boards selling swadeshi products must be seen as an expression of defiance and a political message for the country. A throwback to the “swadeshi” strategy is designed to unite people around an emotional narrative built on India’s core strengths and also to pre-empt criticism over the impact of the American levies on the economy. Modi’s assertion — while addressing a gathering in Ahmedabad — that he would never let harm come in the way of small entrepreneurs and farmers must be seen as part of the government’s efforts to protect the home turf amid tensions over the imminent implementation of the new tariffs. ‘Atmanirbharta’ is going to be the weapon to fight the trade war imposed by US President Donald Trump. The PM used the most recent episode of his monthly radio show ‘Mann ki Baat’ to say that true service to the nation lies in promoting indigenous goods. The Ahmedabad pledge came less than a week before a 25 per cent additional tariff kicks in — besides an already-imposed 25 per cent — which the US calls a penalty for India’s buying of oil from Russia. India has rightly rejected the diktat and continued to buy oil and other goods from Russia, thereby stressing its sovereignty.

An interesting consequence of this assertion has been a marked thaw in India’s diplomatic relations with China. Modi’s unambiguous message that India would never bow to pressures from any quarters came a day after US Vice President JD Vance said Trump had applied aggressive economic leverage, including secondary tariffs on India, to make it harder for the Russians to get rich from their oil economy and force Russia to stop bombing Ukraine. Though the NDA government has been talking about ‘Vocal for Local’ and ‘Make in India’ over the last decade, tariff tensions with America have given these ideas a renewed focus. However, it is a different matter that the domestic manufacturing sector has not seen any great progress despite initiatives like ‘Make in India’. The US tariff issue is being wrongly presented by the Trump Administration as an “oil dispute” involving Russia. Ironically, the same criticism levelled at India for purchasing Russian fuel is not being applied to larger importers, such as China and European nations. It would be preposterous to assume that India would abandon its national interests and open floodgates to American agricultural and dairy products just to please Trump, who has weaponised tariffs to bully the nations into submission. India has clearly drawn the red line. Agriculture and dairy are the key sectors that concern the livelihoods of a large population of small and marginal farmers.

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