By K Venkatakrishna Rao,News18

Copyright news18

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his rare address to the nation, advocated for the Swadeshi movement and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. These remarks came during the ongoing tariff tensions with the US and H-1B visa fee hike.
The Swadeshi movement is not new for Indians. The first Swadeshi movement built nationalist unity; today’s version of the Swadeshi movement can build economic confidence. The modern Swadeshi movement is not about rejecting globalisation, but about smart self-reliance.
The US tariffs on India have created shock and disappointment among Indians. On social media and other platforms, people are saying the US will not be a trustworthy friend anymore. These tariffs will create both short-term challenges and long-term opportunities.
For India, the key is not to see tariffs only as barriers, but as a chance to restructure trade, upgrade industries, and position itself as an alternative hub. When Donald Trump became the President of the US for a second term, everyone in India thought he would strengthen the relations between two largest democracies. Everyone expected that, in Trump’s second regime, US tariffs would be primarily aimed at reducing reliance on Chinese supply chains. It would leverage India to adopt the “China+1” Strategy.
But shockingly, he imposed tariffs on India rather than China. However, the tariff trade war may not be longer as both countries need each other strategically and economically. India also needs to have good relations with the US for the success of the China+1 strategy.
Trump’s turbulent policies should help India’s administration to understand the needs of the Swadeshi movement. Instead of just giving slogans of the Swadeshi movement, leaders should show it in actions. Leaders should encourage institutions and organizations to purchase Swadeshi products wherever feasible.
Governments should boost local demand by emphasising domestic consumption of Indian goods, reducing the urgency of exporting to tariff-heavy US markets. The Swadeshi movement reduces India’s bargaining weakness; if India isn’t overly dependent on the US market, it can negotiate from a position of strength.
In the global perspective, India can pitch itself as a trusted alternative manufacturing base for American and western companies. Sectors like electronics, textiles, auto components, pharmaceuticals, and green tech can attract US firms seeking tariff-free diversification. More foreign direct investment (FDI) from the US and western firms re-shoring from China.
India needs to promote competitive sectors like pharma; India already supplies 40 percent of US generics. With US tariffs on India, India needs to focus on its exports to other parts of the world including Africa, Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asian countries. Tariffs on China create room for India to expand.
In addition to that, India can also focus on the US allies who were hurt by tariffs for the export market. When these tariffs hit global supply chains, allied nations like Mexico, Canada, EU, Japan also face disruption. India can partner with these countries to co-manufacture or co-export into the US market.
For example, Indian IT + German hardware, or Indian pharma + Japanese biotech. With the new tariff crisis, India should try to convert it into opportunities to form new value-chain alliances. The tariffs then become the trigger for India to broaden its global footprint.
Now is the time for India to expand beyond the US market; tariffs often highlight overdependence on one market. India can diversify exports to ASEAN, EU, Africa, and BRICS+ nations to reduce reliance on American buyers. In addition to that, instead of lobbying only for tariff removal, India should also focus on marketing itself as a stable, democratic, low-risk supply chain hub.
Strengthening domestic manufacturing like ‘Make in India 2.0’ is crucial now, especially when the world is fighting a trade war. As the tariffs raise the cost of Indian exports, India must move up the value chain instead of competing on low-cost labour alone.
India should also invest in semiconductors, EV batteries, aerospace, and high-end manufacturing, where margins can absorb tariffs better. Instead of only depending on US investments in these sectors, India can also encourage its domestic players, Japan, and European countries, to invest in these sectors.
Indian products can be more easily penetrated into western countries than Chinese products. More than that, India itself is a big market, and these supplies can help in reducing the trade deficit.
The Government of India can have ‘Digital Swadeshi’ like building Indian platforms for fintech, social media, AI, and quantum instead of relying on US tech giants. Domestic manufacturing can also focus on ‘Green Swadeshi’ like developing EV batteries, solar, and hydrogen tech indigenously instead of importing.
Under ‘Make In India’, the defence sector is one of the crucial sectors. Governments have to make India less dependent on US/Russian imports by ramping up indigenous defence startups (DRDO, private sector).
As more than 50 percent of the population is dependent on agriculture, India is self-sufficient for producing the domestic need. India needs to reduce a few agricultural product imports like edible oil, etc, and India can also become a food exporter powerhouse.
The Swadeshi push creates a resilient domestic economy driven by MSMEs and startups, strengthens India’s atmanirbhar vision, making India not just self-sufficient but also a net exporter of resilience. It will enhance India’s bargaining power in trade negotiations with the US and others.
For the Swadeshi movement, India has a demographic advantage. With the world’s largest youth population, Swadeshi can drive job creation through local industries. Dependence on other countries makes India vulnerable.
The Swadeshi movement will ensure innovation at home. Just as tariffs pushed China to invest in its own semiconductors and AI, India can use this as a wake-up call to innovate.
The Swadeshi movement is the need of the hour, because of uncertainty in global trade. US tariffs prove that India cannot always rely on external markets. Self-reliance cushions the shock.
In this 21st century, instead of traditional wars, countries are focusing on trade wars. This weaponisation of the economy will lead to sanctions, tariffs, and currency dominance (dollar power). To address this problem, India must build its own resilient supply chains.
(The writer is an assistant professor at NIT Warangal and visiting fellow at the India Foundation in New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views)