External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday took a dig at the West and said it treated democracy as a Western characteristic. Speaking during a panel discussion on ‘Live to Vote Another Day: Fortifying Democratic Resilience’ at the Munich Security Conference alongside Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, US Senator Elissa Slotkin and Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowsk, Mr Jaishankar said he differs in the view that democracy is in trouble globally and highlighted India’s democracy.

Asked about his thoughts on Western democracy, he said, “I think I appeared to be an optimist in what is relatively a pessimistic panel if not room. I will begin by sticking up my finger and don’t take it badly, it is the index finger. This, the mark you see on my nail, is a mark of a person who has just voted. We just had an election in my state (Delhi). Last year, we had a national election. In Indian elections, roughly two-thirds of the eligible voters vote. At the national elections, (out of) the electorate of about 900 million, about 700 million voted. We count the votes in a single day.”

Started the #MSC2025 with a panel on ‘Live to Vote Another Day: Fortifying Democratic Resilience’. Joined PM @jonasgahrstore, @ElissaSlotkin and @trzaskowski_.

Highlighted India as a democracy that delivers. Differed with the prevailing political pessimism. Spoke my mind on… pic.twitter.com/h3GUmeglst

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 14, 2025

“From the time we started voting in the modern era, 20 per cent of more people vote today than they did decades ago. So, the first message is that somehow democracy is in trouble globally, worldwide, I am sorry, I have to differ with it. I mean, right now, we are living well. We are voting well. We are optimistic about the direction of our democracy and for us democracy is actually delivered,” he added.

He also said that “nobody disputes” the result after it is announced.

Mr Jaishankar also responded to Senator Slotkin, who on the panel said that democracy “doesn’t put food on your table”.

“Actually, in my part of the world, it does because we are a democratic society, we give nutrition support, and food to 800 million people and for whom that is a matter of how healthy they are and how full their stomachs are. The point I want to make is look different parts of the world are going through different conversations. Please do not assume that this is a kind of universal phenomenon, it is not,” he said.

“There are parts where it is working well, maybe there are parts where it’s not and the parts which are not, I think people need to have honest conversations about why it is not,” he added.

Asked whether nations in the Global South still aspire to a democratic system and the model that would attract people, Mr Jaishankar said, “Look, to an extent, all big countries are unique to an extent. But, we would certainly hope, I mean to the extent, we think of democracy as a universal aspiration, ideally a reality, but at least an aspiration, in large part because India chose a democratic model after independence and it chose a democratic model because we had fundamentally a consultative pluralistic society.” 

He also said there was a time when the West “treated democracy as a Western characteristic” and “was busy encouraging” non-democratic forces in the Global South.

In conversation with PM @jonasgahrstore, @ElissaSlotkin and @trzaskowski_ on the topic ‘Live to Vote Another Day: Fortifying Democratic Resilience’ at #MSC2025.

https://t.co/IQqJ6XY6f3

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 14, 2025

“It (West) still does. I can point to some very recent ones where everything that you say you value at home, you don’t practice abroad. So, I do think the rest of the Global South will view the successes, shortcomings and the responses of other countries,” he said.

He also said India, despite “all the challenges” it faced, even at a low income, “stayed true” to the democratic model. 

“When you look at our part of the world, we are pretty much the only country that has done that. So, I think this is something the West should look at because if you do want democracy eventually to prevail, it important the West also embraces the successful models outside the West,” he said.

Ten devotees travelling to Maha Kumbh were killed after a car collided with a bus in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj. 19 people were injured in the accident in Meja area on the Prayagraj-Mirzapur highway when the Bolero car collided with the bus.

The devotees were travelling from Chhattisgarh’s Korba district to take a dip at the Sangam, a confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers. The Bolero carrying the devotees collided with the bus that was travelling from Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister took cognisance of the accident and directed officials to expedite relief work, while also ensuring proper treatment of the injured.

Earlier this week, seven Andhra Pradesh pilgrims returning from Maha Kumbh died and two other sustained injuries after a mini-bus in which they were travelling collided with a truck in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur district.

Among the most tragic of accidents was on January 29 when thirty people were killed in the stampede that happened just before dawn at the Maha Kumbh venue. Twenty-five bodies have been identified, police officer Vaibhav Krishna told reporters, adding 60 were injured.

The pre-dawn stampede at the Sangam area of the Maha Kumbh broke out after many pilgrims jostled for space to take a holy dip on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, one of the most auspicious days. Many people started breaking barricades before the stampede happened, the police officer said.

The Maha Kumbh began on January 13 and will end on February 26. On 

US Vice President JD Vance launched a withering attack on Friday against European policies on immigration, populist parties, and free speech, echoing President Donald Trump whom he called Washington’s “new sheriff in town”. Vance’s speech — which focussed on key themes of Trump’s election campaign — was a combative broadside at the Munich Security Conference at a time of transatlantic discord over Ukraine, defence, and trade.

Vance stressed that Europe must “step up” in managing its own security, a key bone of contention. But he mostly lambasted the EU’s members on culture war issues.

“There is a new sheriff in town under Donald Trump’s leadership,” said Vance in a speech that stunned the room, and was later condemned as “unacceptable” by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.

Vance slammed EU “commissars” for stifling free expression and charged that “across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat”.

Read: “Ready To Move Towards Real, Guaranteed Peace”: Zelensky After Meeting Vance

Trump, speaking in Washington, doubled down on Vance’s attack on traditional US allies.

“I heard his speech. He talked about freedom of speech. And I think it’s true in Europe,” the President told reporters at the White House. “They’re losing their wonderful right of freedom of speech.”

“And he talked about immigration, and Europe has a big immigration problem.”

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had earlier made clear that Berlin’s relationship with Washington had sharply deteriorated since Trump’s return.

“The new American administration has a very different worldview to ours,” Steinmeier said. “One that has no regard for established rules, partnership, and established trust.”

Immigration

The German head of state urged European leaders to keep calm in the face of a blizzard of disruptive policy announcements from Washington. “We must not freeze in fear, or as the English saying goes: Let’s not be a deer caught in the headlights.”

Vance, undeterred, in a later speech urged European countries, including conference host Germany, which faces elections on February 23, to “change course” on immigration.

Read: Is Democracy In Trouble Globally? S Jaishankar Responds

His remarks came a day after a 24-year-old Afghan man was arrested in Munich over a car-ramming attack that wounded 36 people. “How many times must we suffer these appalling setbacks before we change course and take our shared civilisation in a new direction?” he said.

“Why did this happen in the first place? It’s a terrible story but it’s one we’ve heard way too many times in Europe and unfortunately too many times in the United States as well. An asylum seeker, often a young man in his mid-20s already known to police, rams a car into a crowd and shatters a community.”

Defending political parties that oppose immigration and their supporters, Vance added: “No voter on this continent went to the ballot box to open the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants.”

‘Meddling’

Germany warned Friday against foreign “meddling” in its politics after Vance also called for a bigger role for Europe’s anti-immigration parties, nine days before the German general election.

Vance told the Wall Street Journal: “Unfortunately, the will of voters has been ignored by a lot of our European friends.”

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) looks set for its best-ever result of around 20 percent in the election and has received enthusiastic backing from tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk.

Vance met on the sidelines of the conference with AfD leader Alice Weidel, according to German press.

Vance additionally warned Germany to get used to Musk weighing in, just as the United States tolerated criticism by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

“If American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk,” he said.

Pistorius blasted Vance, saying “democracy was called into question by the US vice president for the whole of Europe”. “He is comparing conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes… that is not acceptable.”