Modi may attend 'Summit for Democracy' hosted by Biden

There is unease over subtle attempts by the US to nudge New Delhi to arrest the alleged backsliding in freedom of speech

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may participate in the virtual “Summit for Democracy”, which President Joe Biden will host on December 9 and 10, notwithstanding unease over recent subtle attempts by the United States Government to nudge New Delhi to arrest the alleged backsliding in freedom of speech and religion in India.

New Delhi, however, is likely to make it clear to the Biden Administration that it would take part in the new initiative only if is not turned into another tool for assessing the state of democracy in India.

Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), on Thursday refrained from making any comment on the United States President’s plan to host the virtual summit for democracy. A source in New Delhi, however, said that Modi would participate in the summit if the Biden Administration extend an invitation to him.

“India shares with the United States a deep commitment to the democratic values, freedom and liberty and will always remain open to sharing its experience with others,” the source told the DH, but indicated that the Modi Government would stonewall any attempt by the Biden Administration to goad New Delhi on issues like human rights, freedom of expression and religion. “Ours is the largest democracy in the world and we do not need anyone else to tell us how we should manage our democracy.”

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Biden on Wednesday announced his plan to “bring together leaders from a diverse group of the world’s democracies at a virtual Summit for Democracy, to be followed in roughly a year’s time by a second, in-person Summit”. The virtual summit will take place on December 9 and 10 and the US expects that it will galvanize commitments and initiatives across three principal themes – defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights.

“Following a year of consultation (after December 8-9 virtual summit), coordination, and action, President Biden will then invite world leaders to gather once more to showcase progress made against their commitments,” the White House stated.

Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his recent visit to New Delhi subtly nudged the Modi Government to support media, judiciary and civil society to freely uphold democratic principles in India, even as he noted that all democracies, including the one in the US, were works in progress and not perfect.

With the US lawmakers expressing concerns over the state of freedom of expression and religion in India, the Biden Administration of late started taking up issues related to democracy and human rights with the Modi Government.

The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, journalists and media executives, too had urged the US Secretary of State ahead of his visit to express concern over “the stifling press freedom environment in which independent media is operating in India, amidst threats and legal harassment by the government at the Centre and in the States ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party”.

The Modi Government was recently at loggerheads with Twitter and WhatsApp over implementation of the new Information Technology rules. The social media companies had reservations about the new IT rules and they argued that some sections of it might be in conflict with the right of privacy and freedom of speech of the users.