RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday cited lack of preparation as the reason behind India’s failure to lead the world, adding that India can offer holistic solutions to the world that is grappling with conflicts and crises.

“India’s time has come,” he said, speaking at the conclusion of an RSS volunteer training camp in Nagpur, an event also attended by prominent industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla as the chief guest, NDTV reported.

“We have been saying for long that India is or should be a ‘Vishwaguru,” Bhagwat said.

“‘…India will become ‘Vishwaguru’, we must make India a ‘Vishwaguru’. We have been saying this for a long time. So what is holding us back? What’s holding us back is our lack of preparation,” he said.

Referring to the West Asia conflict and how countries unconnected to it are also getting affected, Bhagwat said the world listens to those who wield power, and we need to make our country “supremely prosperous”.

“Countries that have no direct connection to the conflicts of the world are nevertheless being drawn into them. The war is between Iran and America, and oil prices are rising here,” the RSS chief said.

“We need to make our country supremely prosperous…the world listens to those who hold power,” he said, adding that even though the world knows that India speaks the truth, it is not accepted merely because it is the truth. “We see the powerful act arbitrarily, and those who do not have strength bow their heads and obey them. Whether you seize another country, drop bombs on someone, or cut off the world’s oil supply, it all happens because of power,” the RSS chief said.

India, being a nation of spiritual and religious life, is meant to offer “Dharma” to the world, he said.

As the world is entangled in quarrels, unable to find a middle path between development and destruction of the environment, it needs India because the element (“tatva”) that unites all these things is not present in any other land, Bhagwat said.

“The world says it needs a new path, and that path will be provided by India. So India’s time has come. But time alone does not make things happen. One must prepare for that time,” he said.

The world remains trapped in dilemmas involving individual rights, societal interests and environmental conservation, Bhagwat said, adding, “To give a person individual rights, society’s interest is compromised. If society needs to be given powers, individual person’s rights are suppressed.”

Highlighting environmental concerns, he said material growth is often pursued at the cost of nature, while environmental protection is frequently viewed as an obstacle to development.

“For materialistic growth, environment will be exploited. And to protect the environment, (some people demand) stop the development. The world is stuck, and confused in such types of issues,” he said.

There are “people among us” who sow discord, and the forces who do not want India to become great are ready to create unrest in social life by finding small pretexts, the RSS chief further said.

“Thinking that if these (Indian) values become strong they will lose their position in the world, many elements are intent on influencing our traditions directly or indirectly. I will not go into more detail, the situation is before you,” he said.