(Sanghnomics is a weekly column that tracks down and demystifies the economic world view of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and organisations inspired by its ideology.)
‘A world blindly running after material wellbeing and desires needs to be shown the path of Dharma, which transcends the paths of worship, customs, and traditions; which connects all; which brings everyone together; and which ensures collective progress.’
The above quote is from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat’s historical Vijayadashami speech this year, which commemorated the centenary of the Sangh. Interestingly, around two weeks before this speech, while speaking at a book release function, Bhagwat had echoed similar views when he said that if India wants to become a 'Vishwaguru and a Vishwamitra', it must consider charting its own path based on its own perspective.
These two statements explain the core of the RSS’ worldview on ‘economy’, ‘economics’, and various development models. Some aspects of these elements have been further discussed in the global context by former vice-chairperson of NITI Aayog and noted economist Rajiv Kumar and Ishan Joshi in Everything All at Once: India and the Six Simultaneous Global Transitions.
Bhagwat had released this thought-provoking study on 20th September, when he had emphasised the need for India to chart its own course, as mentioned above.
According to Kumar and Joshi, there are six major global transitions that are currently underway simultaneously. Each of these transitions is profoundly consequential in itself. Taken together, happening all at once, they promise to be epochal. Nation-states, the primary agents of global interaction covering the gamut of cooperation, competition, and confrontation between countries, will have to adapt to these transitions to optimise their respective development trajectories. The more resourceful nation-states are already seeking to influence them to their advantage.
These historically unprecedented transitions may broadly be identified as:
(i) the geopolitical transition
(ii) the geographical transition of the global centre of gravity from the transatlantic region back to the Indo-Pacific region after a hiatus of two centuries
(iii) the geoeconomic transition
(iv) the transition of economic power away from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries to the emerging economies of the Global South
(v) the transformative technological transition engendered by the Artificial Intelligence (AI)-led digital revolution
(vi) the critical transition from carbon neutrality to reducing footprint, and carbon removal from the environment.
It is also important to understand that these six simultaneous transitions are unfolding against a certain backdrop. According to Kumar and Joshi, this backdrop comprises of another six factors:
* The US still remains the most powerful and prosperous nation in the world with a GDP of $29.16 trillion in 2024
* China remains steadfastly in second place with a GDP of $18.27 trillion in 2024
* After the initial shock in energy supplies and prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European region has demonstrated great resilience
* By including capital-surplus energy-exporting economies of West Asia in BRICS, the emerging economies are gaining heft in the global economic order
* New frontier technologies have the potential to transform lives for the better or, alternatively, add an uncontrollable, chaotic, and dangerous dimension to an already deeply inequitable and unstable world
* The time window to restrict the catastrophic rise in temperatures through climate action is now less than two decades, which implies that carbon removal from the atmosphere has acquired criticality.
“Indian policymakers must ensure that they are not seduced into tackling the ongoing transitions in either a piecemeal fashion or within a linear framework. We cannot be the blind men of the parable who each touched only one part of the elephant’s body and reached a conclusion on the creature’s provenance,” caution Kumar and Joshi.
It is clear that India has a historic opportunity to shape the ongoing transitions to its advantage. The challenges are massive, and India needs an innovative approach to meet these challenges. Bhagwat indicated the path towards this innovative approach when he mentioned, “If we want to manage this, we will have to think from our own perspective. Fortunately, our country's outlook is traditional... This outlook on life is not old; it is 'sanatan' (eternal). It is shaped by the experiences of our ancestors over thousands of years.”
He further added, "Our approach hasn't cancelled Artha (material wealth) and Kaama (desires). On the contrary, they are compulsory in life. The four goals of life include wealth and work. But they are bound by Dharma. Dharma doesn't mean a method of worship.” For the RSS, Dharma is an eternal set of values that aim for the global good. In other words, it is the ‘law of nature’. According to Bhagwat, a development model based on ‘Dharma’ is bound to be all-inclusive, not leaving anyone behind.
One can expect to see a greater and growing emphasis by the RSS on developing an indigenous model of development in its centenary year, as over the last few months, many RSS functionaries have been talking about this consistently. This isn’t a new concept though, at least for the RSS. Its ideologues like Dattopant Thengadi and Deendayal Upadhyaya had started laying the theoretical foundation of the ‘Bharatiya model of development’ through their writings since the 1950s. But now, this discussion carries much more weight, as the organisation has much greater heft.
Earlier Sanghnomics columns can be read here.
(Arun Anand has authored two books on the RSS. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive.)
Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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