Buy and sell products made in India: Modi's 'Swadeshi' pitch amid tariff conflict with US

Speaking at a rally in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, the Prime Minister appealed to the buyers to be reliant on local products giving a push to his 'Make in India' drive.

He also urged the business community to sell only local products offering a tribute to Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, who had led a Swadeshi Andolon in his fight against the British government.

"From now onwards, we have to take a pledge of buying products which are made in India. We have to embrace 'vocal for local' and promote 'Make in India' products... I would also appeal to the business community to sell only Swadeshi products at a time the world is going through instability.

"This kind of a pledge will be a true service to the country. We have to be reliant on Swadeshi products in the upcoming months which are full of festivals followed by the wedding season," Modi said.

The Prime Minister has also urged people to avoid touring foreign locations for destination weddings.

Modi said, "I had earlier appealed to all to avoid spending a huge sum of money by getting married on foreign locations. We have a plenty of spots in our country where marriages can take place... Our Swadeshi mantra will shape our future. It will also be a fitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi."

India-US tariff conflict

The conflict started after US President Donald Trump earlier this week imposed a 25 percent tariff on all Indian imports and an added penalty.

He vented out against India for purchasing oil from Russia.

The President wrote on Truth Social, "Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country.

"Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. MAGA!"

Training his guns on India and its all-weather friend Russia, Trump called India's economy "dead".

Trump posted on Truth Social, "I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World.

"Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!"

India on Friday snubbed Trump's attacks and called the South Asian country's relationship with Russia "steady and time-tested partnership.".

"Our ties with any country or all the ties that we have with various countries stand on their own merit and they should not be seen from the prism of a third country. As far as India-Russia relations are concerned, we have a steady and time-tested partnership," said India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.