Apparently they have atmanirbhar in other countries too. Which is how we got into various pandemics - climate, housing, employment, financial markets, etc. Looking out for oneself is a double-edged sword. Much better to acknowledge a larger good beyond ourselves.
India's historical mistake has been to equate 'self-reliance' with local production rather than widespread availability of goods and services. By insisting that India must produce many things itself, all we achieved is that many of those things are not accessible to most Indians.
Meanwhile we have self-reliance in things like voltage stabilisers and home water filters, things that many countries don't need at all because they're past those kinds of problems. Our low capacity on some fronts has led to poor outcomes on many fronts.
The trouble with 'atmanirbhar' is that no can do that in everything. You have to pick which areas to aim for self-reliance in. You can make soaps, or soap-making machines, and these are very different kinds of things to specialise in. The details matter.
In nearly all of our national agendas, we have not progressed beyond the advertisement into clearly embracing some options and rejecting others. We have instead deflected criticism by pointing to the worthiness of what's in the ad. But those are words, not actions.
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