PM steps out of third world shadow

It’s probably the first time that an Indian Prime Minister has ever spoken of democracy at the United Nations. But then, there’s a...

It’s probably the first time that an Indian Prime Minister has ever spoken of democracy at the United Nations. But then, there’s always a first time as Manmohan Singh today spoke about India’s relevance to the world as its largest democracy.

And in doing so, Singh laid the basis for changing India’s traditional self-projected image at the United Nations over the last 60 years as a third world country.

Fear of offending dictators from fellow non-aligned nations had made references to democratic values a taboo in India’s foreign policy. ‘Development, yes; democracy, never’ has been a rule of thumb for Indian diplomats at the UN all these years.

Not any longer.

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Today at the launch of the United Nations Democracy Fund in the presence of US President George Bush and the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and other world leaders, Singh declared India’s pride at its ‘‘democratic heritage’’.

‘‘As the world’s largest democracy, it is natural that India should have been among the first to welcome and support the concept of a UN Democracy Fund,’’ Singh said.

India is contributing US $ 10 million to the Fund, which will help countries share the experiences of older democracies in establishing political pluralism.

Dismissing the argument that democracy hinders development, Singh said, ‘‘Democracy alone gives the assurance that the developmental aspirations of the poorest citizens’’ will be taken into consideration.

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For the UN itself, democracy talk is new. Traditionally, the UN did not go into the domestic political orientation of the member states. However, amidst growing recognition that terrorism can only be defeated by spreading democracy, the idea of helping countries develop democratic traditions has acquired a new urgency as well as legitimacy.

The Bush Administration’s new emphasis on promoting democracy has also activated the United Nations to set up a ‘‘democracy fund’’. In his UN speech today, President George W Bush welcomed India’s support to the Un Democracy Fund.

In July, Singh and Bush had agreed to jointly develop a “Global Democracy Initiative” aimed at assisting fledgling democracies to consolidate their new political institutions.

Indian officials say its initiatives for promoting democracy, with the US and at the UN, are not premised on coercion. India will offer democracy assistance only to those who want it.