Bring law to ban Chinese goods: RSS body

NEW DELHI: The RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch ( SJM) today urged the government to enact a "Buy Bharatiya Act" which would make it mandatory for government departments to purchase only goods produced in India.

Continuing with its campaign against the use of Chinese products in India, it submitted a memorandum, addressed to the prime minister, to 430 District Collectors across the country.

The SJM also declared 2017 as the "Year of the boycott of Chinese goods and companies".

SJM co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan said in the memorandum that China had taken "advantage" of the Indian market but was consistently hostile to New Delhi.

China was building a military base in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and had blocked India's move to declare Masood Azhar as an international terrorist, Mahajan added.

"China's waywardness towards India never ends," he said.

He added it was "unfortunate" that while China was creating problems for India, the central and state governments were entering into investment agreements with Chinese companies.

"Some state governments are even organising conventions to attract Chinese investment. This trend needs to be curbed and no new investment agreement should be made with China," the memorandum said.

India's trade deficit with China mounted to $46.56 billion last year, while the bilateral trade marginally slowed down by 2.1 per cent to nearly $71 billion, China's General Administration of Customs said in January.