India stands ready to work to strengthen democratic values globally: PM Modi at Summit for Democracy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in ‘Summit for Democracy’ hosted by US President Joe Biden and said that India stands ready to work with partners to strengthen democratic values globally.

“Happy to have participated in the Summit for Democracy at the invitation of President Biden. As the world’s largest democracy, India stands ready to work with our partners to strengthen democratic values globally, including in multilateral fora,” PM Modi tweeted.

PM Modi addressed the ‘Summit for Democracy’ on Thursday at the invitation of President Biden.

While addressing the summit, Biden expressed alarm at a ‘backward slide of democracy’ and called on world leaders to work with him to bolster democratic institutions.

“Will we allow the backward slide of rights and democracy to continue unchecked?” Biden asked, adding that “Or will we together — together — have a vision … and courage to once more lead the march of human progress and human freedom forward.”

China and Russia were excluded from the Summit for Democracy, prompting scathing complaints. 

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Washington seeks to establish a broad coalition of “friends against foes” and stressed that “Democracy, in the context of this summit, is used merely as a code word.”

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova lambasted the United States and accused it of destroying international law.

Interestingly, Pakistan, which was invited to participate in the ‘Summit for Democracy’, skipped the event.

The US had invited 110 countries to take part in the Summit.

Islamabad’s decision to skip the democracy summit came after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s had a telephonic conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi.