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Blog / 16 Mar 2021

(Video) Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV) The Big Picture: EAM : Don't Preach us on Democracy

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(Video) Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV) The Big Picture: EAM : Don't Preach us on Democracy

Topic: EAM : Don't Preach us on Democracy

Guest:

  • Kanwal Sibal, (Former Foreign Secretary, GoI)
  • Arvind Gupta, (Director, Vivekananda International Foundation - VIF)

Topic Description:

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has condemned western human rights and democratic institutions for criticizing India over freedom and democracy, slamming them for their hypocrisy. Calling them “self-appointed custodians of the world who find it very difficult to stomach that somebody in India is not looking for their approval”, the External Affairs Minister has rejected recent reports downgrading India’s democracy ramkings, saying India doesn’t need anyone’s certificate. Speaking at an event on Saturday, S Jaishankar said the BJP-led govt is supposed to be nationalist. So, this nationalist govt, he said, has given vaccines to 70 countries in the world. And then he went on to question the contribution of the internationalist countries, asking them how many vaccines have they given to others?. And he asked a very pertinent question - Which of these internationalist countries have said they will provide vaccines to people outside, while also taking care of their own?. The External Affairs Minister’s remarks were in response to a question on recent reports by two international organisations that have downgraded India on the democracy index. In its annual Freedom in the World report released on March 3rd, US-based NGO Freedom House downgraded India from the “free” to the “partially free” category. While Sweden-based V-Dem Institute said India is no longer an “electoral democracy” and classified the country as an “electoral autocracy” while contending that much of the decline in democratic freedoms occurred after the BJP’s victory in 2014.

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Courtesy: RSTV