External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday showed his index finger to the world when questioned if democracy was in trouble globally. Speaking at ‘Live to Vote Another Day: Fortifying Democratic Resilience’ at the Munich Security Conference alongside Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, US Senator Elissa Slotkin and Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowsk, Mr Jaishankar said he disagrees that democracy is in jeopardy and highlighted India’s democracy.
“The mark on my index finger is a mark of a person who just voted. We just had an election in my state. Last year, we had a national election. In Indian elections, 2/3rd of national voters vote. We count the votes in a single day and nobody disputes the results after it is announced,” the Minister said.
“Today, in the modern era, 20 per cent more voters vote than they did decades ago. The message is that somehow democracy is in trouble globally, and I will have to disagree with it. We are voting well, we are optimistic about democracy and for us, democracy has actually delivered,” he further added.
Jaishankar also responded to a remark by Senator Slotkin, who on the panel said that democracy “does not put food on your table”.
“Actually, in my part of the world, it does because we are a democratic society, we give nutrition support, and food to 800 million people and for whom that is a matter of how healthy they are and how full their stomachs are. The point I want to make is look different parts of the world are going through different conversations. Please do not assume that this is a kind of universal phenomenon, it is not,” he said.
“There are parts where it is working well, maybe there are parts where it’s not and the parts which are not, I think people need to have honest conversations about why it is not,” he added.