The Sleeping Elephant has Woken Up, Won’t Stop now

Those who try to attack our economic freedom should remember that India holds immense potential. Do not underestimate us!

The festival of our country’s independence begins from August 9 and all of you are free-thinking people of independent India. Under the tricolour, all of you are celebrating independence in your respective areas and I am celebrating the freedom of the pen too. So now, let us talk about economic freedom.

This week marks 78 years since our beloved motherland was freed from the clutches of the British. In these years, we have undoubtedly achieved incredible progress. We Indians have left our mark all over the world. There is no path to progress left untrodden by us. Naturally, there will be those who will envy us and create hurdles on our path to progress. Their greedy eyes will be fixed on our economic resources. Institutions like the World Trade Organisation have become paralysed and are no longer capable of protecting anyone. So the question is how do we navigate this new and challenging landscape?
The global economic landscape is currently entangled in a web of American tariffs and we, too, are not untouched. In fact, we are among the most affected nations. At this very moment, the US tariff on Indian goods has risen from 25% to 50%. This steep increase means that for every Rs 100 worth of goods India exports to the US, a Rs 50 tax will be levied. This will inevitably make Indian products more expensive for American consumers, leading to a decline in demand. Given that the US accounts for a substantial 18% of India’s total exports, the impact of this tariff will be profoundly felt across our economy. At this point, the question of India’s economic freedom arises, because the US wants to control it. I believe that not everyone can digest the pace of India’s economic freedom and they would like to restrain our freedom in every field. I recall a recent example. Prominent among the industrialists who are growing rapidly today are Ambani, Adani, Sajjan Jindal, Tata, Birla and many others. Adani had even reached the second position in the world, but those who were irritated began to level frivolous allegations against him to cause him as much trouble as possible. Fear was spread that if he went to London, Europe or countries under the US influence, he would be arrested! Today, every adversary of India wants to strangle us in different ways. Earlier, Trump had also imposed a 145% tariff on China, and China gave a fitting reply, but what happened in the end? Trump had to bow down.

I am not an economist, but as a journalist, politician and industrialist, I certainly have the ability to analyse. I believe that the United States has had its eyes on India’s agriculture and dairy sectors for many years. Agriculture contributes about 14% to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides employment to around 42% of the workforce. The dairy sector contributes a little over 5%, and if we include animal husbandry and allied industries, it provides livelihoods to about 8.5% of the population. India is the world’s largest milk producer, accounting for 23% to 24% of global milk production. The US comes second, but there is a big difference between their milk and ours. In the US, animals are fed meat-based protein, whereas in India, dairy animals are vegetarian.

Now, let us look at the differences between the two countries in agriculture and dairy. In India, the agriculture sector receives very little support, whereas in the US, farmers enjoy generous government subsidies, technical assistance and easy credit. This means the US agricultural sector and its farmers are far better equipped than those in India. Not only the US but many countries, including those in Europe and China, also subsidise their agriculture. If American agriculture and dairy products were allowed free access into India, our farmers would not survive in the market. The economic freedom of Indian farmers would be lost.

As for China’s attacks on our economic freedom, we Indians have become alert, but our markets are still flooded with Chinese goods. Our cottage and small-scale industries have not been able to break China’s dominance in Indian markets. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ slogan has certainly given us direction, but we still have a long way to go. Only the government’s farsighted policy and the hard work of ordinary people can change the situation. Our bureaucracy’s mindset still has not completely changed. Until we increase labour productivity and quality, we will not be competitive in international matters. We must ensure quality in every sector and only then can no one stop us. I was reading the story of America’s progress and came across the episode when, after the economy faltered, John F Kennedy told Americans: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” That was when America’s fortunes changed.

In India’s context, too, we need to think the same way. We must raise ourselves to such heights that even aggressors think twice before doing anything against us! Just as China showed the US its place because it was strong, we too must go beyond the ‘Panchsheel path’ and adopt a firmer stance. I am reminded of an episode from the Ramcharitmanas: When Parashuram tried to threaten Lakshman with his axe, Lakshman replied, “Ihan kumhad-batiya kou naahi, je tarjani dekhi mari jaahi (Here there is no one like a pumpkin fruit, which withers at the mere sight of a pointed finger).”

We must remember that India has immense potential. Looking at the economic history of the last two thousand years, for the first 1,500 years, India’s share of world production averaged 46%. Even when the British enslaved India, our contribution was still 23%. By the time they left, it had dropped to 2%. We recovered and today we are the fourth largest economy in the world. Remember, India buys more gold than any other country today.

And to those forces that are attacking our economic freedom, I would like to say that never underestimate India’s strength. India was a sleeping elephant. But it has woken up now. It is now walking with a majestic stride. It will neither stop, nor bow, not fear..! Jai Hind!

The author is the chairman, Editorial Board of Lokmat Media and former member of Rajya Sabha.