NEW DELHI: As part of its centenary celebrations, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), regarded as the ideological mentor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), recently undertook visits to three foreign countries- the UK, the USA and Germany. RSS Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale led the visits, engaging with foreign dignitaries to discuss the Sangh’s ideology, its worldview, and Bharat’s place in the evolving global order.
Sharing details of the overseas engagements on Tuesday, on the occasion of the RSS centenary year, Sunil Ambekar said that Hosabale undertook a series of engagements across the UK, the USA and Germany beginning in April 2026.
In a statement, Ambekar said that the visits were conducted at the invitation of host institutions in all three countries, in the spirit of dialogue marking the centenary year of the RSS. He stated that the orientation throughout the tour was towards humanity at large, presenting a hundred years of reflection and experience in the cause of the welfare of all beings and the global good.
According to Ambekar, the RSS delegation visited the UK from 10 to 15 April. During the six-day stay in London and Rugby, Hosabale interacted with figures from British public life across academia, policymaking, the legislature, business and community organisations. At Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Hosabale addressed a session on “RSS View of the World”, focusing on the civilisational values underpinning the work of the RSS and Bharat’s place in the changing global order.
Hosabale also led a roundtable discussion titled “Understanding Bharat from the Grassroots” at the International Centre for Sustainability in the City of London, examining the conception of Bharat as a civilisational entity rather than merely a political construct. An academic roundtable on “RSS and Civic Institutions” brought together researchers and faculty members from the University of Oxford, University College London, SOAS University of London, London School of Economics, University of Cambridge and the University of Sussex. Hosabale also attended a cross-party dinner with Members of Parliament and dignitaries from the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Representatives of the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats participated in discussions concerning the RSS’s role in shaping India’s future. Ambekar further stated that Hosabale held informal sessions with senior business leaders in London, where he addressed the “Global Vision of RSS in the Present Geopolitical Situation”. Another informal gathering brought together Hindu community leaders and representatives of community organisations from across the United Kingdom. The UK visit concluded with a Karyakarta Mandal of the RSS-inspired Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh UK in Rugby, a working assembly of volunteers and functionaries associated with the wider HSS network in Britain.
According to Ambekar, the RSS delegation visited the UK from 10 to 15 April. During the six-day stay in London and Rugby, Hosabale interacted with figures from British public life across academia, policymaking, the legislature, business and community organisations.
At Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Hosabale addressed a session on “RSS View of the World”, focusing on the civilisational values underpinning the work of the RSS and Bharat’s place in the changing global order.
Hosabale also led a roundtable discussion titled “Understanding Bharat from the Grassroots” at the International Centre for Sustainability in the City of London, examining the conception of Bharat as a civilisational entity rather than merely a political construct.
An academic roundtable on “RSS and Civic Institutions” brought together researchers and faculty members from the University of Oxford, University College London, SOAS University of London, London School of Economics, University of Cambridge and the University of Sussex.
Hosabale also attended a cross-party dinner with Members of Parliament and dignitaries from the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Representatives of the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats participated in discussions concerning the RSS’s role in shaping India’s future.
Ambekar further stated that Hosabale held informal sessions with senior business leaders in London, where he addressed the “Global Vision of RSS in the Present Geopolitical Situation”.
Another informal gathering brought together Hindu community leaders and representatives of community organisations from across the United Kingdom.
The UK visit concluded with a Karyakarta Mandal of the RSS-inspired Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh UK in Rugby, a working assembly of volunteers and functionaries associated with the wider HSS network in Britain.
Following the UK visit, Hosabale travelled to the USA from 16 to 26 April.
During the 10-day stay, he participated in a series of engagements centred around two principal events, alongside discussions with members of the Indian-American community across several cities.
Hosabale spoke on the panel “Science, Knowledge Systems and Civilisational Leadership”. Co-panellists and participants included Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate in Physics and former United States Secretary of Energy; H. R. McMaster, former United States National Security Advisor; Ram Shriram, founding board member of Google; Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures; and Juliet Gerrard, former Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Hosabale’s central proposition was that scientific and technological progress must be assessed through the threefold lens of economy, ecology and ethics. He further observed that “there was never a divide between the spiritual and the scientific, only a unified pursuit of truth,” and that “what we call spiritual texts today often encoded deep scientific frameworks”.
In Washington DC, Hosabale participated in a fireside dialogue with foreign policy thinker and historian Walter Russell Mead, where he articulated the philosophy of oneness underpinning RSS thought.
He observed that “Hindu philosophy and Hindu culture, by their very structure, do not allow it to be supremacist,” that “Hindus have never invaded any country and Hindus have nothing to apologise for”.
Hosabale further remarked that humility begins with the simple realisation that all are part of the same universal energy. In Virginia, Hosabale attended a reception themed “India’s Global Vision and Role in the Emerging World”.
He was joined on the panel by Walter Russell Mead and Walter Andersen, the noted scholar of the RSS, who described the movement as a stabilising influence in Bharat.
Reflecting on modern life, Hosabale observed that humanity has built “bigger houses, but smaller families”, that the present age contains “more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, but more problems”, and that humanity has “conquered outer space, but not inner space”.
Referring to Bharatiya philosophy, he noted that it “recognises nature as Mother, with enough for our need but not to fulfil our greed”. On Bharat’s civilisational ethos, he stated that “when Bharat says the world is one family, it says it from some experience of practice”.
During his two-day visit to Germany between 28 and 29 April, Hosabale held discussions in Berlin with leading German policy institutions and members of the Indian community.
At Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, discussions focused on Bharat’s place in the evolving global landscape, the role of civilisational perspectives in international relations, and the contribution of civil society institutions to social cohesion.
Hosabale also held discussions with members associated with the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin, the Berlin House of Representatives, where civic responsibility, family cohesion and inter-community understanding were among the themes discussed.
Ambekar stated that Hosabale’s principal formulation in Berlin was that “the vision of RSS for the next 100 years is to contribute to building sustainable societies at every level, from families to societies and environmental responsibility, grounded in shared universal values.”