New Delhi, Sept. 8 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a recent speech, channelled the mood of the nation into a characteristically pithy phrase: "Paisa kisi ka bhi ho, pasina apna hona chahiye" (capital can come from anywhere in the world, but production should be achieved with the sweat of Indian labour).

As US President Donald Trump's tariffs come into play, the government is urging citizens to go local in consumption (buy locally made goods) and in production (Make in India).

This 'swadeshi' (indigenous) push should not be seen as a throwback to the inward-looking protectionism of the 1970s and 1980s, even though, at its core, it espouses similar ideas of import substitution and export promotion. The difference is twofold.

First, t...