After participating in the summit for Democracy hosted by US President Joe Biden on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that as the World’s largest democratic country, India stands ready to work with its partners to strengthen democratic values globally including in multilateral fora. In his tweets, he remarked Happy to have participated in the summit for Democracy at the invitation of President Biden. As the World’s largest Democracy, India is ready to work with partners to strengthen democratic values globally, including multilateral fora.
Technology firms should contribute to preserving democratic societies as technology can impact democracy “positively or negatively,” Modi said on Thursday at the virtual summit as per the source.
Biden hosted the summit for Democracy, and representatives from over a hundred countries attended it. Biden warns World at an inflection point, raising the alarm at the Democracy summit. Democracy is facing sustained and alarming challenges worldwide.
Biden said trends were “largely pointing in the wrong direction” and that Democracy needed “champions.” He added, “Will we allow the backward slide of rights and Democracy to continue unchecked?”
The two-day event, held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, was billed by the White House as US leadership in an existential struggle between democracies and powerful autocracies or dictatorships. As per the research by Prittle Prattle, official Uzra Zeya said, “Make no mistake, we’re at a moment of democratic reckoning,” Uzra added countries in virtually every region of the World have experienced degrees of democratic backsliding.
The meeting featured opening remarks from Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, including representatives from 100 governments and NGOs, private businesses, philanthropical organizations, and legislatures.
US officials hope to win support during the meetings for Democracy through global initiatives, such as using technology to enhance privacy or circumvent censorship, and for countries to make specific public commitments to improve their democracies before an in-person summit planned for late 2022, as per the source.
Annie Boyajian, director of advocacy at non-profit Freedom House, said the event could push struggling democracies to improve and spur coordination between democratic governments. He said, “a full assessment won’t be possible until we know what commitments there are and how they are implemented in the year ahead.”
Human Rights Watch’s Washington director Sarah Holewinski said making the invitation to the 2022 summit dependent on delivering on commitments was the only way to get nations to step up.
Biden struggles to pass his agenda through a polarized Congress following the turbulent and disruptive Trump presidency. In February, the conference made in his first foreign policy address that he would return the US to global leadership to face down authoritarian forces led by China and Russia. Both the countries were not invited to the event, which coincides with questions about the strength of America’s Democracy.
Amid rising US-China tensions, the Biden administration’s decision to invite Taiwan has irked Beijing. China considers Taiwan, a democratically ruled island, part of its territory. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said the invitation of Taiwan showed the US was only using Democracy as “cover and a tool for it to advance its geopolitical objectives, oppress other countries, divide the world and serve its interest” as per the source.
Unlike Biden’s predecessors, of whatever persuasion, this president has taken a moment for a democratic future in the US- and some essential allied countries- is a great decision and can no longer be taken for granted. No task seems more urgent than the protection of Democracy at home and abroad, as said by James Traub.
This release is articulated by Prittle Prattle News in the form of an authored article.
