EC takes lead in Biden's global democracy initiative amid US flak for India on erosion of freedom, human rights

Despite unease in New Delhi over criticism from Washington DC over alleged backsliding of human rights and religious freedom in India, the country’s Election Commission is set to follow up on the “Summit for Democracy” that the United States President Joe Biden had hosted in December 2021.

The commission will host an international conference in New Delhi on Monday and Tuesday. The representatives of India, the United States and several other nations will attend the two-day conclave to discuss the “Role, Framework and Capacity of Election Management Bodies (EMBs)”.

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The conference is being held as a follow-on to the “Summit for Democracy” that the US President had hosted on December 9 and 10 last year, with participation of many Heads of States and Heads of Governments from around the world – including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had addressed it virtually.

The Biden Administration has been subtly but consistently nudging the Modi Government to protect democratic principles in India. It emerged as an irritant in the relations between New Delhi and Washington DC, with the Modi Government insisting that it required no certificate from other nations on the quality of democracy in India. Even the prime minister, himself, in his Independence Day speech on August 15, called upon people to stop relying on certificates from the foreign individuals and entities to assess the state of human rights, tolerance and freedom of expression and religion in India.

India’s poll watchdog, however, agreed to lead the cohort on “Election Integrity” – one of the many initiatives launched to strengthen democracies around the world as part of the “Year of Action” following the summit hosted by the US president.

Nearly 50 participants representing the EMBs of India, the USA and 10 other countries – Armenia, Mauritius, Nepal, Cabo Verde, Australia, Chile, Federal States of Micronesia, Greece, Philippines and São Tomé and Príncipe – will participate in the conference. The representatives of International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IIDEA) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are also expected to attend the conference, in addition to representation from the diplomatic missions of many other foreign nations in New Delhi, according to a press-release issued by he EC. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar will inaugurate the conference on Monday, while Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey will chair the concluding session on Tuesday.

The Biden Administration has been tacitly conveying to New Delhi concerns in the US over the perception that India was backsliding on human rights, freedom of speech and religion and democratic principles. The US president, himself, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris had subtly nudged the prime minister to protect democratic principles of India, when they had hosted him in Washington D.C. on September 24, 2021.

The think-tanks and the non-profit entities as well as international organizations too have been expressing concerns on alleged erosion in democratic values in India.

After New Delhi’s relations with Washington DC came under stress over India’s refusal to join the US and the other western nations in condemning Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, the Biden Administration earlier this year sharpened its criticism over alleged rise of religious intolerance and human rights abuse.

Blinken on April 12 this year said that the US was “monitoring some recent concerning developments in India, including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police, and prison officials”. He followed it up on June 2, stating that India, the world’s largest democracy and home to a great diversity of faiths, had seen rising attacks on people and places of worship.

The US State Department’s 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom itself also highlighted purported rise in intolerance in India.

New Delhi strongly reacted not only to the report but also the comments made by the US officials, accusing the Biden Administration of practising vote bank politics in international relations. It also turned the table on Washington DC, expressing concern over racially and ethnically motivated attacks, hate crimes and gun violence in the US.