External Affairs Ministry has started a big campaign abroad to emphasise the message that India is the Mother of Democracy.
New Delhi: In a massive campaign to counter the lobby that is working to defame India on foreign soil by questioning its democracy, for which Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is also in line of fire from the BJP, the Narendra Modi government has initiated activities at large scale abroad to emphasise the message that India is the mother of democracy. Prime Minister Modi, who has set the narrative that India is the mother of democracy, is himself closely monitoring the diplomatic campaign being carried out by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), people aware of the nitty-gritty of the mission told The Sunday Guardian. “World leaders from different quarters of the international community are heaping praise on PM Modi for his role in strengthening India’s mature and inclusive democracy,” a diplomatic source said.
According to sources, the Modi government has intensified efforts at a mission level to galvanise global opinion reaffirming the fact that India is the mother of democracy. The response is quite positive as well, sources said.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar recently told the Rajya Sabha that India has initiated activities through its cultural centres abroad to emphasize the message that India is the mother of democracy. “We have already initiated activities abroad through our cultural centres to emphasise the message that India is the mother democracy and that India has a pluralistic and consultative tradition that very few societies, if anybody at all, can match,” Jaishankar told the members of the Upper House in reply to a question during Question Hour. Jaishankar further said that this matter has been discussed with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.
Sources said that this campaign should also be seen as an attempt aimed at initiating a discourse on India being the mother of democracy in leading institutions such as Harvard and Cambridge abroad. “In fact, it is PM Modi himself who has called India the mother of democracy, setting the narrative for the world to reaffirm it. Now, it is the duty of the diplomats at MEA and at High Commissions and Embassies to give it a big campaign shape,” a source said. Jaishankar has called it a work which is very much in progress.
Diplomats said, “This kind of campaign was much-needed amid the massive conspiracy from abroad and from elements part of the anti-India tool kit to defame Indian democracy and undermine various constitutional institutions in New Delhi.” “Democracy is in danger in India” kind of remarks being made by certain politicians or others on foreign soil are nothing but part of this larger conspiracy, said diplomats, obviously in a veiled swipe at Rahul Gandhi. However, despite all these attempts, the world thinks otherwise.
Nothing could reaffirm PM Modi’s narrative on democracy better than the remarks made recently by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “Indian democracy is the largest expression of free political will by citizens anywhere in the world,” Blinken said recently. Diplomats recall Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s remarks in which she termed Narendra Modi as the most loved leader around the world. “The high approval rating of Prime Minister Modi has made him the most praised leader across the world,” Meloni pointed out during her first visit to India a few weeks ago. French President Emmanuel Macron has already referred to PM Modi as a “positive light”. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese termed the emergence of the world’s largest democracy as remarkable.
US President Joe Biden during the Tokyo Quad summit had said that Narendra Modi’s success has shown the world that democracies can deliver. “Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is coming to India to invite PM Modi to attend the G-7 summit in Hiroshima in May as a special invitee. It is also a show of respect for PM Modi as a successful and popular leader of the largest democracy of the world,” said a diplomat. His call for “Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam” (world as one family) as India leads G-20 group in its presidency reinforces the belief about his faith in a healthy democratic system not only for the country but also for the entire world. India’s democratic values dominate the discourse in the neighbourhood as well. The statement from the government in Kathmandu that Nepal draws inspiration from India’s democracy is significant in this context. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have similar views.
A source said that “such opinions of the world leaders about India’s democracy under Narendra Modi’s leadership are being documented properly to be used at every available occasion to send out the message that India is the mother of democracy”. “Laptops and files are packed with data and statements by the world leaders, lauding Indian democracy like this. These data and views will be referred to by the diplomats globally at every forum and during every interaction. Efforts will be made to ensure that more and more leaders from across the world come out with statements praising Indian democracy,” a source said.
During various interactions, the diplomats are going to refer to PM Modi’s remarks which he made during a rally in Karnataka, “which will make their points more convincing and solid”. PM Modi recently said that “some people in London questioned India’s democracy—the same land where there is a statue of Guru Basaveshwara. “Today I am at the land of Bhagwan Basaveshwara and I feel fortunate. One of his remarkable contributions was the setting up of the Anubhava Mantapa. The entire world studies this democratic system. And there are many such other things for which we can say that India is not only the largest democracy but the mother of democracy. I was fortunate enough to be invited to London to unveil the statue of Bhagwan Basaveshwara,” PM Modi said.