Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi participated in United States (US) President Joe Biden’s two-day Democracy Summit on Thursday. During the first day’s virtual discussion, Modi celebrated India’s commitment to pluralism and democratic principles.
The Plenary Session was a private, closed-door session that was chaired by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and saw the participation of leaders from merely 12 countries. On Friday, Modi will deliver a national statement before all the 110 participants of the Summit.
During his Thursday address, Modi underscored the need for cooperation between world democracies to “deliver on the values enshrined in their constitutions.” He thus reiterated his call for the reform of international institutions to ensure the abidance of democratic principles in global governance.
Applauding India for being the world’s largest democracy, Modi talked about the four pillars that form the basis of Indian governments: sensitivity, accountability, participation, and reform orientation. He highlighted that the Indian “civilisational” ethos is one of the “original sources” of democratic principles, and further remarked that the principles of democracy are “ingrained in Indians.”
Modi also spoke about the impact of technology on a country’s commitment to democratic principles, noting that technology can “positively or negatively” affect democracy. Keeping this in mind, he called on tech companies to “contribute to preserving open and democratic societies.”
Biden announced the Democracy Summit in February this year, delivering on a campaign promise to conduct a meeting with democratic allies and partners regarding the situation of democracy around the world. The leaders are expected to discuss key themes such as protection against authoritarianism, combating corruption, and promoting respect for human rights.
The invitation list of the event, which includes 110 participating countries, has created a lot of stir. The list excludes traditional US rivals such as Russia and China but consists of the Chinese-claimed island of Taiwan. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian called the invitation a strategic geopolitical move masked behind the unreal desire to promote democracy.
Just this past weekend China released a report to expose the deficiencies in Washington’s hypocritical commitment to democratic rights, pointing to several shortcomings within the US’ own borders. China simultaneously published a white paper that highlighted its own promotion of and commitment to democratic principles and practices. Sharing China’s displeasure about being excluded from the multilateral event, Russia accused Washington of “trying to privatise the term ‘democracy” and called the Summit “divisive.”
Biden’s Summit will see the participation of problematic democracies such as Brazil, Poland, India, and the Philippines. Other questionable invitees at the Summit include Israel and Iraq, the only representatives from the Middle East, and Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Niger.
However, Pakistan, a close ally of China and Turkey, both of which were excluded from the invitation list for the Summit, declined to participate in the meeting. While refraining from explicitly declining the invite, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “We remain in contact with the US on a range of issues and believe that we can engage on this subject at an opportune time in the future.” Sources cited by The Hindu said the decision could be a consequence of Biden failing to reach out to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan after being appointed as the American President in January 2020.