In the midst of tariff war and the intensifying tussle of economies, India stands at a critical juncture. Despite pursuing the policy of liberalisation and globalisation for over three decades, the challenges thrown by the unilateral tariffs of the United States and consistent dumping of goods by China compels us to introspect about our current development model.

In this context the idea of Swadeshi—self-reliance rooted in India’s civilizational wisdom—deserves fresh consideration. Swadeshi, by its critics, has been projected as an isolationist and the relic of freedom struggle. However, if one goes back to our traditional texts, Swadeshi reflects the vision of balanced and community centric growth.

Incidentally, Swami Vivekananda had also rejected the western model of development way back in 1893 and that had attracted sharp criticism from several ‘western’ educated intellectuals. Interestingly, Margaret Noble, follower of one of the most famous anarchists of late 19th and early 20th century in Europe Prince Kropotkin, arranged the meeting between the latter and Swami Vivekananda. However, after meeting with Swami Vivekananda, she herself became a life-ling proponent of Hindu values and was famously known as Sister Nivedita.

One of the major critiques of the ‘Hindu model of development’ is that there is no structured body of knowledge available regarding this model. Nothing could be farther from the truth. There are thousands of treatises written by Hindu economists starting from Rig Veda that have given shape to ‘Hindu Economics’ by MG Bokare which has specific theories on price, demand, supply, welfarism, role of the state, taxation, income and expenditure of nation, foreign trade,........

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