Make Indian goods that meet global standards

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently exhorted Indians to strike out foreign goods from their lives, seeking to keep the flame of 'Operation Sindoor' burning by dovetailing it to his government's push for self-reliance.

- Dhurjati Mukherjee

He further stated that if we want to build a developed India by 2047 and take our economy from the 4th to the 3rd position, we will not use foreign goods. Modi wanted traders across the country to take the pledge, no matter how much profit they make by selling foreign goods.

This observation made while addressing an event at Gandhinagar during a two-day visit to Gujarat last week, by Modi is noteworthy as it may remind people of the pre-independence Gandhi-Tagore controversy regarding boycotting foreign goods. There are two things that need to be analysed in this context — one, do we produce goods that stand up to global standards and secondly, whether India can do without using foreign goods. It appears that what Modi implied is that we should give top priority to India-made goods and, in cases where this is not possible, we should go for imported items.