On May 12, 2020, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on TV, mentioning “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (Self-reliant India) 17 times in a 33-minute speech. This was the first time the Modi administration mentioned “Atmanirbhar Bharat” since the pandemic. From that point on, Modi has repeatedly mentioned this concept on many occasions. In fact, due to their long history of suffering from invasion and colonization, Indians have always emphasized that they must control their own destiny. Self-reliance was Nehru’s strategy of governing the country at the beginning of India’s independence.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic raging around the world, why does India renew its commitment to “self-reliance”? What is the difference between the 2020 version of “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan” and the self-reliance strategy of Nehru? Are the Indian government and ordinary Indian people confident in achieving “self-reliance”?

The connotation of “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan” proposed by the Indian government at present can be summarized from Prime Minister Modi’s speeches on various occasions. On May 31, Modi said in his speech that India can easily create substitutes for imported products. At the 95th annual plenary of the Indian Chamber of Commerce on June 11, Modi emphasized that the pandemic has changed the structure of the global industrial chain. He added that India should turn the crisis into an opportunity, abandon a conservative attitude, seize historic opportunities, and build a globally competitive supply chain, so as to sell Indian products in the international market and to shape “a big turning point” for the country’s self-reliance. Modi said, “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan” is to reduce India’s dependence on the world economy and offer more to the world.

It can be seen from the above statement that Modi’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan” has at least two meanings: first, reducing dependence on the world economy, encouraging localized production and procurement; second, increasing Indian manufacturing exports and their proportion in the global supply chain, and building the country into a major manufacturing power in the world.

To better understand these two meanings, it is necessary to dig deeper into the background of “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.” First of all, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the Indian economy. The Indian government has to turn back to “Atmanirbhar Bharat” to rescue the domestic economy which is in a precarious situation. According to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of deaths from COVID-19 in India exceeded 100,000 on October 3, making it the country with the third highest number of deaths from the disease after the United States and Brazil. In addition, India already had over 6.4 million confirmed cases by then. Damage to the economy owing to the lockdown measures has made the Modi government more aware of the shortcomings of India’s economy, especially in the manufacturing sector. The most prominent problem is the inability to provide epidemic prevention and control supplies in a timely and effective manner. This prompted Modi to propose improving India’s manufacturing industry through self-reliance.

In addition, some voices in a few Western countries call for reorganization of the global industrial chain in response to the pandemic. Indian policymakers believe that India will embrace a historic opportunity. In the face of the pandemic’s impact, some Western countries including the United States have proposed reorganizing the global industrial chain, reducing dependence on the Chinese economy, and moving some industries to countries including India and Vietnam for the sake of risk diversification. In this context, some Indian elites believe that it is high time to replace China as the global manufacturing center. In the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, the Indian government frequently held policy consultation meetings and sent several working groups to contact foreign companies in China and vigorously lobby these companies to leave China for India.

The pandemic has made the Modi administration more deeply aware of the Indian economy’s dependence on China, which is unacceptable in the minds of Hindu nationalists. According to statistics from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India imported goods worth about US$68.37 billion from China in 2019, accounting for 14 percent of its total imports. More than 70 percent of India’s Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), 25 percent of auto parts, 50 percent of durable consumer parts, and a large number of electronic products and components come from China. India’s garment manufacturing industry is also closely connected to China. The United Nations reported in early March 2020 that India is one of the 15 countries most affected by China’s production slowdown due to the epidemic, and the affected trade volume is about 3.48 percent. Since June, the conflict between China and India in the Galwan Valley has further exacerbated India’s concerns about its economic dependence on China. India has begun to implement economic “de-sinicization” policies, including banning Chinese software, halting some Chinese factories and investments, and setting up a review mechanism for investment from China.

“Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan” also reflects the rise of conservatism and trade protectionism in India. With the impact of the pandemic on the economy, India’s domestic conservative wing has got a bigger say. Modi’s economic policy after his re-election emphasized market protection and local economic development. The proposal of “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan” is the result of the continuous rise of social and economic xenophobia and conservatism in the country.

The author is a senior journalist with the International Department of People’s Daily and works in India.