The head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Dr Mohan Bhagwat, has arrived in the United Kingdom for the final leg of an international outreach marking the organisation’s centenary, with a packed programme of engagements bringing together British Hindu organisations, Indian community leaders, academics, entrepreneurs, policymakers and representatives of civil society.
Dr Bhagwat arrived in London on 2 September, following visits to the United States and Canada, as the RSS marks 100 years since its founding in 1925. His UK visit, which runs until 7 September, is centred on dialogue with the diaspora and wider British society, with discussions exploring the past and future of ‘Bharat’ as both a nation and a civilisation.
More than 310 representatives of British Hindu organisations and Indian community groups, led by Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh UK (HSS UK), have extended a warm welcome to Dr Bhagwat and are participating in the wider programme. A major community reception and civilisational dialogue, themed ‘Celebration of Oneness’, is scheduled for 6 September, bringing together organisations and associations from across the country.
The London programme has been coordinated by Integral, a UK-based organisation focused on strengthening dialogue, collaboration and relationships between communities in Britain and between the UK and India. More than 115 UK-based socio-cultural organisations have joined Integral in welcoming Dr Bhagwat and supporting the programme, while a separate statement of welcome has been endorsed by more than 100 British Hindu and Indian organisations and community groups.
The RSS, founded in 1925 by Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar during India’s freedom struggle, has grown over the past century into a vast volunteer network engaged in social and community service. According to its 2025–26 annual report, the organisation has more than 152,000 service initiatives across India covering areas including education, healthcare, social welfare and self-reliance, alongside more than 134,000 regular local gatherings.
The organisation’s centenary year is an opportunity not simply to look back at a century of activity, but to articulate a wider vision for social transformation. Its five priorities: social harmony, family values, environmental responsibility, self-reliance and civic responsibility, form a recurring theme of its international outreach.
Dr Bhagwat’s London visit follows an increasingly visible programme of overseas engagement by the RSS during its centenary year. In April, RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale visited the UK, US and Germany, holding discussions at institutions including Chatham House in London, Stanford University and the Hudson Institute, as well as meeting academics, parliamentarians, business leaders and diaspora representatives.
Dr Bhagwat subsequently took the dialogue to North America. In New York on 29 August, he addressed a multi-faith leaders’ meeting attended by 175 participants representing different religious traditions, before speaking at the ‘Universal Oneness’ conference at Madison Square Garden, attended by more than 6,000 delegates representing 250 organisations across the United States.
He then travelled to Toronto, where he addressed the ‘Hindu Vishwa Bandhu’ conference, attended by more than 2,000 delegates representing 175 organisations from all ten Canadian provinces.
In London, the outreach has already brought Dr Bhagwat into contact with some of the UK’s prominent community and public figures. On Thursday 3 September, he attended a closed-door interaction at the OWO Hotel near Westminster, where he met MPs, Lords, entrepreneurs, professionals, community leaders, academics, think tank representatives and others from across British public life.
While there has been no confirmation of any meeting with UK Cabinet ministers, Dr Bhagwat has held or has scheduled a series of bilateral discussions with academics, researchers and think tank representatives as part of the London programme.
His interfaith engagements have also taken him to places of worship beyond the Hindu community. On 4 September, he visited the Shree Swaminarayan Temple in Willesden and the Khalsa Jatha British Isles Gurdwara in Shepherd’s Bush, with a visit to a Jain temple also planned.
The visit has, however, unfolded against a backdrop of criticism from some groups. Letters have been sent to London Mayor Sadiq Khan calling for Dr Bhagwat to be barred from the UK, including correspondence from Hindus for Human Rights.
Asked at a press conference in London on Friday how the RSS viewed the calls for a ban and the criticism surrounding the visit, Sunil Ambekar, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh of the RSS, said the delegation had come to speak about peace, Bharat as a civilisation, its history and the organisation’s century of work in society.
He said that, in a democracy, people had the right to express their views and that the RSS was not “frazzled” by criticism or protests.
For Dr Bhagwat and his hosts, the centrepiece of the London visit comes on 6 September, when hundreds of representatives are expected to gather for the ‘Celebration of Oneness’ dialogue.
The event is intended to look beyond the RSS’s century-long journey and towards the role of diaspora communities, civil society and voluntary organisations in shaping the future, while placing at its heart the philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, the Sanskrit principle that the world is one family.
