New York: India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj said on Thursday that India does not need to be told what to do and what not to do on the democracy.
India on Thursday assumed the presidency of the 15-nation UN Security Council for the month of December, during which it will host signature events on countering terrorism and reforming multilateralism. The presidency will end India’s two-year term as an elected non-permanent member of the powerful UN body.
India’s first woman Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ruchira Kamboj, will sit on the President’s seat at the horse-shoe table. On the first day of India’s presidency, she addressed reporters at the United Nations Headquarters on the monthly work programme. In response to a question on democracy and freedom of the press in India, she said, ‘On this I would like to say that we do not need to be told what to do on democracy.”
Keeping her point, she said, ‘India is probably the oldest civilization in the world as you all know. The roots of democracy in India were from 2500 years ago, we were always a democracy. Coming to the recent times, we have all the pillars of democracy intact – legislature, executive, judiciary and the fourth pillar, the press. And a very vibrant social media following. So India is the largest democracy in the world.”
Kamboj said, “Every five years we do the world’s biggest democratic exercise. Everyone is free to speak and according to their will and that is how our country works. It is rapidly reforming, changing and transforming.” The trajectory has been very impressive.”