Democracy is in America’s DNA …. in India’s DNA: President Biden

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In a joint press briefing following bilateral discussions, June 22, 2023, President Joe Biden indicated that democratic values were instilled in the vision of the American and Indian democracies and that their future success was in the interest of the world.

Responding to a question during a joint press briefing, about alleged rights violations of minorities in India, President Biden said, “I had good discussion about democratic values (with Prime Minister Modi). That’s the nature of our relationship. We are straightforward.”

Some members the President’s own party have been pressuring him to take on the issue and a few had said they would not attend the Indian leader’s address to a Joint Session of Congress June 22.

“It is a common democratic character of both our countries and our people; our diversity, our culture, our open, tolerant, robust debate. And I believe, we believe in the dignity of every citizen,” President Biden said.

“And it (democracy) is in America’s DNA, and I believe, in India’s DNA, that the whole world has a stake in our success… in maintaining our democracies. It enables us to expand our democratic institutions around the world,” Biden added.

Prime Minister Modi strongly denied there was any discrimination in India based on caste or religion, when asked what he would do too uphold the rights of Muslims, and for free speech. He echoed Biden’s view that democracy was in the DNA of India.

Democracy was in ‘our veins’, and embedded in the Constitution. “There is absolutely no space for discrimination,” Modi said. Democracy was one of the founding principles of India, he added, and all benefits provided by the government were available to all without discrimination.