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EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S Jaishankar rejected the western viewpoint that democracy is in crisis globally and pilloried the West's doublespeak on the issue.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi

EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S Jaishankar rejected the western viewpoint that democracy is in crisis globally and pilloried the West's doublespeak on the issue. "I reject the idea that democracy is in crisis worldwide. In India, we are voting well, living well, and remain optimistic about the future of our democracy, which has indeed delivered," Jaishankar said at a panel discussion in Munich. He pointed at the ink mark on his index finger, symbolising his recent vote.

He flayed the West for its double standards on democracy, accusing it of treating democracy as an exclusive "Western characteristic", while actively supporting "non-democratic forces" in the Global South - a practice that still continues.

Jaishankar said countries of the Global South are more likely to relate to the fact that the "Indian experience is more transposable to their societies than perhaps to those of others."