From New York To London: How Mohan Bhagwat Is Taking RSS’s Civilisational Message West

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s London visit is not just the overseas leg of the Sangh centenary celebrations. It is the latest step in a carefully expanding attempt by the organisation to take its civilisational vocabulary to the West and build conversations, relationships and constituencies around it.

After addressing carefully curated gatherings in New York and Toronto, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s ‘Tour de West’ enters its final leg in London, where he is set to address a closed-door programme attended by around 500 community leaders.

The programme has been organised by the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), while Bhagwat’s London visit is being planned and coordinated by Integral, a UK-based organisation that brings together socio-cultural groups and community

leaders. Around 115 organisations will be participating in the event, said Sunil Ambekar, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh (national spokesperson of the RSS), while addressing the media in London.

Ambekar further said, “We are here for dialogue. We want to engage with people. Anyone who is interested in understanding the RSS is welcome at our events.”

Responding to questions about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s opposition to the RSS and similar protests in London, Ambekar said, “In a democracy, some people may have their opinions and disagreements. People have responded to him and to others as well. We want to welcome all of our detractors to engage with us and then decide.”

The RSS chief arrived in London on September 2, completing an outreach that has taken him from New York to Toronto and now Britain. The stated theme is ‘civilisational dialogue’, with social harmony, service, unity in diversity and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam at its core.

But the more significant development is the widening circle of interlocutors the RSS is engaging with outside India, including faith leaders, academics, researchers, parliamentarians, business leaders and diaspora organisations.

From Diaspora Outreach To Civilisational Dialogue

London offers perhaps the clearest snapshot of this strategy. More than 115 UK-based socio-cultural organisations have joined the programme, while more than 310 community organisations and associations are expected at the September 6 ‘Celebration of Oneness’ dialogue.

Bhagwat has also visited the Shree Swaminarayan Temple and Khalsa Jatha British Isles gurdwara, with a Jain temple visit on the schedule.

That interfaith outreach matters. Rather than presenting the RSS merely as an Indian organisation speaking to an Indian diaspora, the centenary programme is attempting to place its ideas in a broader conversation about social cohesion and pluralism.

Significantly, the effort did not begin with Bhagwat’s London visit. RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale’s April engagements in the UK, US and Germany included Chatham House, Stanford University and the Hudson Institute, alongside interactions with academics, parliamentarians, business leaders and community representatives.

Bhagwat then took the message to New York, where a multi-faith meeting drew 175 participants, followed by a ‘Universal Oneness’ conference attended by more than 6,000 delegates from 853 cities and 39 US states. Toronto followed, with more than 2,000 delegates representing 175 organisations.

The RSS Is Exporting A Vocabulary, Not An Organisation

The central pitch is strikingly consistent: a century of volunteer-led service, character-building, social harmony and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. The RSS says it now runs more than 152,000 service initiatives across India and has over 134,000 regular local gatherings.

For an organisation completing 100 years, the overseas push is therefore about more than marking a milestone. It is an attempt to define what the RSS wants its second century to look like. It is now less confined to India’s political discourse and increasingly present in global conversations on civilisation, community and social cohesion.

London, in that sense, is not just a destination. It is the next stage of the RSS’s globalisation of its civilisational message.