"This is tariff terrorism against India!”: Baba Ramdev on Donald Trump’s "economic war," pushes for swadeshi

New Delhi [India], November 2 (ANI): Yoga Guru and Patanjali Ayurved co-founder Baba Ramdev on Sunday slammed the US President Donald Trump administration for the economic policy of imposing tariffs on various countries. Tariffs, he said, is like unleashing “terrorism” against a country and likened the form of "economic war" to a 'World War 3' situation.

When asked whether Swadeshi (Indian made) will be the answer to such an economic war, Ramdev highlighted how the philosophy of buying home-made products is rooted in uplifting everyone together, comparing it with the ‘expansionist’ and ‘imperialist’ tendencies of the US currently. 

“Tariff is terrorism, it is very deadly. After World War 2, if World War 3 is there then it is this economic war. In this, at least the poor countries, developing countries should be taken care of. The people in power have been so samrajyawadi (imperialist) and vistarwadi (expansionist), have been so vain, it is not good,” Ramdev told ANI in an exclusive interview. 

The Yoga  Guru further criticised the concentration of power in the hands of a few people in the world, claiming that such a system will propagate inequality, injustice, exploitation and wealth and prevent prosperity. 

“Everyone should stay in their limits, and further the tradition of uplifting everyone together. If a handful of people control the world's power, wealth, prosperity, and strength, then inequality, injustice, exploitation, conflict, and bloodshed will spread throughout the world,” Ramdev said.

Ramdev has co-founded Patanjali Ayruved and Patanjali Yogpeeth with Balakrishna in 2006. While Patanjali Ayurved manufactures ayurvedic medicines, cosmetics and food products; Patanjali Yogpeeth focuses on practice, research and development of Yoga and Ayurveda, with both of them having operations in the US. While the Ayurved division regularly exports products to US, the Yogpeeth division also has a US-registered charity. Patanjali also runs a wellness centre in the US. 

Ramdev noted how several great people, including Maharishi Dayanand and Swami Vivekanand have advocated for swadeshi products.  

“Swadeshi is the philosophy of self-reliance, self-sufficiency, and the upliftment of the last person. From Maharishi Dayanad to Swami Vivekanand, so many great people have been proponents of it. All of these have said that everyone should be uplifted. Be devoted, and along with you, uplift the people around you, your environment. That is the root of swadeshi,” the Yoga Guru said. 

The US has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports, supplemented by an additional 25 per cent due to India's purchase of Russian crude oil. India is currently in the last leg of discussions for an India-US trade deal, with US stating that India has agreed to scale down its purchases of Russian oil. 

However, the Ministry of External Affairs has repeatedly stressed on India’s sovereignty and decision to decide on its own energy independence. 

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said earlier, "India is a significant importer of oil and gas. It has been our consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario. Our import policies are guided entirely by this objective. Ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy. This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions." (ANI)