Democracy that Delivers: Unpacking India's Model of Democratic Cooperation
Post-event analysis by Ambar Kumar Ghosh and Ammar Nainar
The U.S. government recently hosted a Summit for Democracy that brought together government leaders, civic activists, and corporate executives to listen and learn about democratic cooperation and how to renew and strengthen democracy globally. As the largest democracy in the world, India participated in the Summit, highlighting the strengths and resilience of its own model which reconciles democracy with ethnic diversity on a unique scale. In order to deliberate on India’s efforts and role in democratic cooperation, the Observer Research Foundation America (ORF America) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in India convened a closed-door roundtable on India and Global Democracy on 13 December 2021. Ashok Malik, Policy Advisor at India’s Ministry of External Affairs led the discussion, which also featured Indian experts from the field of academia, diplomacy, and journalism.
The discussion sought to highlight the key points of India’s Country Statement delivered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Summit. He emphasised “inclusion, transparency, human dignity, responsive grievance mechanism and decentralization of power”. Additionally, the statement included among the challenges to democracy the emerging role of social media and cryptocurrency. While acknowledging that these and other emerging digital technologies have enhanced communication processes and expedited welfare delivery mechanisms, their potential misuse must also be effectively curbed.
The discussion briefly covered India’s unique ways of contributing to global democracy building by extending sustained constructive assistance for strengthening democratic consolidation as well as developmental cooperation efforts extended to many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It was noted that India’s assistance has been two-pronged. First, India has been extending infrastructural support to some countries for the construction of democratic institutions (such as parliament buildings), besides funding connectivity projects and small and medium scale “quick impact projects” for augmenting the development goals of many nascent democratic countries. Second, India has also been providing technical and procedural support to many countries, including through training efforts in the conduct of free and fair elections.
During the course of the discussion, it was underlined that India’s democratic institutions have a rich experience of mediating with complex and diverse interest groups with some successes. The best example is India’s own decentralisation story. Decentralised governance through a multi-layered federal system and innovative conflict resolution mechanisms by constant dialogue and mediation, despite many shortcomings, can serve as valuable motivation for newer democracies. However, India’s uniqueness lies in the fact that, rather than grand exhibition of its constant endeavors, it believes in silently promoting democracy by example: through “doing democracy” rather than evangelism or external imposition. Therefore, India’s democratic cooperation is underpinned by three factors: practical, deliverable, and sustainable. Examples include India’s erstwhile assistance to Afghanistan and India-Africa effective cooperation in the field of education.
As the Summit for Democracy produced criticism on the arbitrary exclusion of some democratic countries, it was reiterated that India has historically distanced itself from being a part of any definite “camp” and shall continue to adhere independently to its own principles and interests. India’s constant endeavours to strategically balance between its interests and values, based on pragmatism in the pursuit of democracy promotion, was also noted in the discussion. For example, in Myanmar, India has constantly assisted in its democratic transition and would hope to to see democracy being restored in that country. To that end, constant dialogue with all the relevant parties for arriving at a consensus is the best way ahead for democratic consolidation. Democracies ought to do a better job in listening and learning from each other.
When the Biden-Harris administration in the United States talks about the “competition of systems” with China, how India effectively negotiates its domestic challenges and ensures effective welfare and growth delivering mechanisms will help define the future of global democratic cooperation. The progress that India has recently made on flagship programs like the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) trinity, which enables cash transfers and the successful COVID-19 vaccination drive at a mammoth scale has demonstrated that a large and diverse democracy has the ability to solve complex problems within a democratic framework, one that requires a consultative approach and coordination among multiple federal units. Such accomplishments of India’s democratic system along with numerous success stories of India’s robust third-tier democratic governance should be increasingly conveyed to the world for instilling greater motivation for global democratic cooperation.
The discussion ended with participants posing some pertinent questions on challenges and the future of global democratic cooperation. How to translate democratic principles into concrete cooperation on issues of global governance, such as on sustainable infrastructure and connectivity? How can democracies like India work with other like-minded partners to institutionalise the rules-based order in democratic spirit? And as democracies are increasingly identified with personalities, how can a deeper interest in (and an understanding of ) the institutional functioning of democracies be initiated?