PM Modi said India has been voicing the interests of Global South countries at international platforms
NEW DELHI: Democratic spirit runs in India’s veins and is underpinned by its values, PM Narendra Modi said Thursday, asserting that the country had belied post-Independence apprehensions about its future as it turned its diversity into strength and showed the world that its democratic institutions and processes deliver stability, speed and scale.Addressing the 28th conference of speakers and presiding officers of the Commonwealth at the central hall of Samvidhan Sadan, the old Parliament building, after inaugurating the event, he said democracy in India means last-mile delivery for citizens and working for everyone’s welfare without any discrimination. “In India, democracy delivers,” he said.With representatives from many Global South countries present in the audience, Modi said India has been strongly voicing their interests at international platforms and has striven to ensure that its innovations benefit them. Under its presidency of G20, India put Global South’s concerns at the centre of global agenda.“When the world is undergoing unprecedented changes, then it is also time for Global South to chart a new path,” Modi said, adding that India is home to over 50% of the population of Commonwealth countries and is fulfilling its commitment to their sustainable development goals. In this context, he recalled vaccines and other medical aid India had provided to many countries during the Covid outbreak. Turning to India’s ancient democratic culture, he said its over 5,000-year-old Vedas have referred to assemblies where people met to deliberate and arrive at agreements on different issues while the Buddhist Sangha used to have open discussions and made decisions through consensus or voting.He said, “A 10th-century inscription from Tamil Nadu describes a village assembly that worked with democratic values. There were clear rules for accountability and decisionmaking. Our democratic values have been tested by time, supported by diversity and strengthened generation after generation.”Hundreds of languages are spoken in India’s diverse democracy, while over 900 TV channels are broadcast and thousands of newspapers and periodicals are published, he said. “Very few societies manage diversity at this scale. India celebrates such diversity because our democracy has a strong foundation. India is called the Mother of Democracy.” He noted that with 980-million registered voters, the 2024 LS election was not only the largest democratic exercise in human history but also witnessed record participation of women.Addressing delegates, who included 61 presiding officers from 46 countries, Speaker Om Birla flagged concerns over the misuse of emerging technologies like AI, while noting these have also boosted efficiency. Their misuse has presented challenges of misinformation, cybercrime and social disharmony, and effective solutions are needed to counter the threat posed to democracies, he said. India’s over seven-decade-long parliamentary journey has been strengthened through people-centric policies and welfare-focused legislation, he said.
