“Unity and diversity are in the DNA of both Bharat (India) and the United States of America,” Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said in New York City on Saturday, drawing an equivalence between the two countries. He said “plurality” is a word often used in the context of the US. “And when we say Bharat. Another phrase is discussed: unity in diversity. This unity and this diversity, both are in their DNA,” he said, addressing a gathering at Madison Square Garden. The event, titled ‘Universal Oneness Celebration’, was organised by a group called American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue or AHEAD. “Nations are not merely geographical entities. In the design of this universe, nations have to carry out a duty,” Bhagwat said further, in a rather philosophical speech. “Swami Vivekananda said, every nation has a destiny to fulfill. What is the destiny given to Bharat? Bharat is there to realise, and from time to time make the world realise, this unity in diversity. [That] we are one. And due to diversity, that oneness is decorated.”