If dependence on China increases, we will have to bow before it, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Sunday.
Speaking after hoisting the national flag at a Mumbai school on the 75th Independence Day, the RSS chief also said “swadeshi” means doing business on India’s terms.
“We use the internet and technology a lot. Our country does not have the original technology. It comes from outside,” Bhagwat said.
“No matter how much we shout as a society about China and boycott Chinese items, but from where does everything that is in your mobiles come from? If the dependence on China increases, then (we) will have to bow before China,” Bhagwat said.
Economic security is important, he said, adding the adaptation of technology should be based on our terms. “We have to be swa-nirbhar”, he said.
“Swadeshi does not mean ignoring everything else. International trade will remain, but on our terms,” he said. We have to be self-reliant for that,” he added.
“What we can manufacture at home should not be brought from the market,” he said.
He said the economic vision should be to produce more and competition should be for the best quality of produce.
“We are not against international trade and commerce but our production must be in villages. It should not be mass production but production by masses,” he said.
A decentralised production will help India’s economy to generate employment and self-employment opportunities, he said.
With more producers, more people will be self-reliant, he said, adding the revenue generated should be distributed equitably.
Industries should get encouragement from the government, Bhagwat said. The government should act as a regulator and not do business itself, he added.
