Surat: Cautioning against the adverse impact of the possible cultural invasion due to India's free trade regime, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat on October 21 said the country's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has resulted in several 'social vices' creeping into the society.

"In the '90s, we invited an era of social vices by becoming a member of the WTO. Boundaries between the countries ceased to exist paving way for enhancement of hurdle-free trade. But, if its cultures keep coming to invade ours, then what would be the condition?" Shekhawat asked at a function to felicitate senior journalist and Editor of Rajasthan Patrika Gulab Kothari in Surat.

"We have to give a serious thought to ensure that the WTO regime does not have an adverse impact on our culture as well as finances," he stressed.

Shekhawat said, "After invading India, even Britishers realised that they could sustain their power here only by changing the culture and not by wealth or physical force. So they successfully changed India's cultural and social order and legal system by making the then rulers their slaves after bestowing them with certain dignified posts."

PTI