Washington: Biden administrationThe top American diplomat in New Delhi on Thursday dismissed concerns from some quarters about its democracy, noting that Indians were in many ways better than Americans.
in by council on foreign relationsEric Garcetti, a top U.S. think tank and U.S. ambassador to India, told the audience that he was confident that “India will be a vibrant democracy just like today free and fair elections”.
“Again, some things could be worse and some things could be better. They had a law that you couldn’t walk more than two kilometers to vote. So there would be a guy who lived in the mountains as a monk (at) and they would walk two days to go somewhere Go to the polls,” he said in response to a question expressing concern about the state of democracy in India.
During Indian elections, trucks are checked to make sure no one is carrying cash, he said. “In some cities in the United States, Philadelphia, there may be direct cash, as they call it, it’s like a tradition where cash gets you votes and things like that. So their own things struck me as very deep.
However he added that there are some things “that we will keep a close eye on. I just don’t agree that we don’t talk about them publicly,”
“We leave them out. That’s not the only thing . I mean ,some people want us to just say that .But this relationship is too important for us at all times throughout our day just saying over and over again . You’re not going to get it done.Anything else becomes self-fulfilling prophecy because they never come close to us and i think this is really human-to-human ,very deep,” he said .
“There are bunch of people who have come here as leaders ,that have been educated here,to have an affinity with America And Americans are polling very positively . I told the president before the state visit that Americans are polling better in India than Americans are polling in the United States.” Be good.
He said this is a great advantage for the United States.
“…If you don’t understand that state governments in India are as strong as the center and run by opposition parties, you can also make many criticisms of other ruling parties. Why do we say there were no golden ages in Indian history where everyone’s rights were honored?” asked Garcetti.
“This is bad policy . But I am 100 percent sure that it will just continue to be one of the most vibrant democracies in the world,” Garcetti said.
“I am 100 percent confident that we can trust this relationship. This will be one of those relationships, the defining ones between America and India in this century,” he said.
