Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday identified demographic manipulation, infiltration and import dependence as top national challenges, calling self-reliance a necessity and “swadeshi” a way of life. Citing separatist ideologies, regionalism, disputes over caste and language and divisive tendencies incited by external forces as threats to national unity, the PM said India’s soul had always been rooted in “unity in diversity” and warned against dilution of this foundational value.

“If this principle of unity in diversity is broken, India’s strength will be diminished. We must continuously reinforce it,” he said, hailing the journey of the BJP’s ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which turned 100 today.

In the presence of RSS second-in-command Dattatreya Hosabale,

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