On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the “Democracy Summit” hosted by the United States and reiterated India’s support for strengthening democratic values on a global scale.
“It is a great pleasure to participate in the Democracy Summit at the invitation of US President Biden,” Prime Minister Modi wrote on Twitter. “As the world’s largest democracy, India stands ready to work with our partners to strengthen democratic values on a global scale, including in multilateral forums,” the prime minister added.
PM Modi will issue India’s national statement on Friday, which will be open to everyone.
Leaders of more than 80 countries participated in a closed-door virtual “democracy summit” via video conference on Thursday. The summit was convened by US President Joe Biden and focused on the challenges faced by democracies around the world, including corruption, inequality and restrictions on press freedom. In addition to India, world leaders from France, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Japan, Israel, and the Philippines attended the summit. Representatives of non-governmental organizations, private companies, charitable organizations and legislatures also participated in the summit.
ANI News Agency quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Prime Minister Modi stated that the spirit of democracy, including respect for the rule of law and pluralism, is deeply ingrained among Indians.
Prime Minister Modi also emphasized that democratic countries need to live up to the values contained in their constitutions. He also listed sensitivity, accountability, participation and reform orientation as the four pillars of democratic governance in India.
According to ANI, the Prime Minister’s emphasis on democratic principles should also guide global governance. Given the ability of technology to have a positive or negative impact on democracy, technology companies should contribute to maintaining an open and democratic society.
During the summit, Prime Minister Modi called on technology companies to contribute to the maintenance of a democratic society and stated that it has the ability to “actively or negatively” influence democracy.
In his opening speech, Biden called on world leaders to end the “regression” of global democracy. “Will we allow the retreat of rights and democracy to continue uncontrolled? Or will we—together—with vision…and courage to lead the advancement of human progress and human freedom again?” he asked.
Biden did not name China or Russia, and repeatedly raised the need for the United States and like-minded allies to show the world that democracy is a better social carrier than autocracy.
Neither Russia nor China was invited to the summit. In response to the exclusion, the Chinese and Russian ambassadors to the United States wrote a joint article describing the Biden administration as showing a “cold war mentality” that would “provoke ideological confrontations and rifts in the world.”
Comeplete News Source : Hindustan Times
