Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. At the Munich Security Conference on Saturday Jaishankar gave a scathing indictment of Western views on democracy.
“There was a time—I have to say this in all honesty—when the West treated democracy as a Western characteristic and was busy encouraging non-democratic forces in the Global South,” EAM Jaishankar said during a panel discussion titled Live to Vote Another Day: Fortifying Democratic Resilience. It still does. You don't practice anything you value at home overseas.
He also emphasized how lively India's elections are. I can prove that I just cast my ballot by the mark on my index finger. My state just held an election. We had national elections the previous year. Two-thirds of the Indian population cast ballots in elections. Nobody contests the results once they are declared and we count the votes in a single day. Voters now participate in elections at a rate of 20% higher than they did decades ago he said.
The EAM stressed that India has hope for democracy despite international worries. I have to disagree with the message that democracy is in danger on a global scale. We are voting with confidence and democracy has truly delivered for us.
Jaishankar defended the democratic model of India stating that the nation's pluralistic and consultative society was the primary factor in its decision to embrace democracy following independence.
He claimed that because India has always been an essentially pluralistic and consultative society it decided to adopt a democratic model after gaining independence.
“Started the MSC2025 with a panel on Live to Vote Another Day: Fortifying Democratic Resilience,” Jaishankar wrote on social media sharing his thoughts on the panel. joined PMs @trzaskowski_ @ElissaSlotkin and @jonasgahrstore. highlighted India as a successful democracy. Disagreed with the political pessimism that was prevalent. Said what I thought about foreign meddling.
The Munich Security Conference 2025 is a global forum for talks on international security that will take place in Munich Germany.
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