Delegates of 8 nations attend ICRR event, get a glimpse of Indian democracy

Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has launched a first of its kind forum called 'Gen Next Democracy Network Programme' to create a network of young delegates from democratic countries to debate over the future of democracies across the world. A total of 19 delegates from 8 democratic countries have been invited in the inaugural batch that kicked off on Thursday. ICCR aims to host a total of 75 delegations

New Delhi:Delegates from eight democratic countries from across the world have begun a week-long visit to India as part of the 'Gen Next Democracy Network Programme' launched by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). The programme, organised as a part of celebrating 75 years of independence as 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', has been launched with an aim to develop a network of democracies for the betterment of next generation of democracies and leaders.

The event kicked off on Thursday with the 1st batch of 19 delegates from 8 democracies arriving on Indian soil to get a glimpse of how one of the largest democracies in the world has been successfully functioning for the past 75 years after independence.

Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, President of ICCR, said that the first batch of delegates consists of politicians, parliamentarian, entrepreneurs, social workers, artists and influencers under the age of 35 years, hailing from democratic countries like Bhutan, Sweden, Jamaica, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Poland, Uzbekistan and Malaysia. Their arrival was marked with a cultural evening in New Delhi, where Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe addressed and greeted them.

"India is one of those democracies which never went back on its democratic ethos or relapsed into any kind of monarchy or autocracy. Therefore the commitment of Indian people to the idea of democracy, in letter and in spirit, is something unparalleled," he said. He also said that democracy is part of our Indian culture, not just a system of governance. He further added that India is symbolic to the very idea of democracy and therefore this is the most appropriate place where a better generation of youngsters belonging to democracies across the world can be cultivated.

Dinesh K. Patnaik, Director General of ICCR, also addressed the delegates during this event. "We are looking at all democracies across the world to come together, not just to see how democracies function in each other's countries but also to debate on what is the future of democracy. The whole idea of this program is to give all the delegates a glimpse of India, it's democratic processes, economic successes, science and technology capabilities and the ways in which we govern ourselves at different levels - right from the federal to the Panchayat level," he said.

The activities for the delegates include knowledge sharing events like idea exchange forums, seminars, visits of various levels of government institutions, visits to art galleries, folk art events, handicrafts fair and several symposia demonstrating the success of India's democratic journey for 75 years. The delegates will travel across the nation for these events and will be back on December 1, after which a feedback session will be held, as told by Dr. Sahasrabuddhe.

ICCR aims to host a total of 75 delegations, out of which 60 delegations would be from 15 global forums like World Bank, UN-Habitat, Asian Development Bank, ASEAN, BRICS, BIMSTEC, etc.