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| Democracy most powerful tool in attaining development: Ahamed | | |
Dubai, Oct 31: India has said its long experience of democratic rule has helped it successfully overcome the challenges of development.
"We believe that democracy based on universal adult suffrage empowers the most humble citizen of our country and gives him a sense of dignity. Poverty, illiteracy and socio-economic backwardness do not hinder the exercise of democracy," Minister of State for External Affairs, E Ahamed, has said.
"Our experience of more than 50 years of democratic rule demonstrates how democracy is the most powerful tool to successfully overcome the challenges of development," Ahamed said in his address to the Sixth International Conference on New and Restored Democracies, in Doha yesterday.
The Indian experience had shown that "implementation of pro-active development policies and economic reforms, when coupled with a liberal democratic polity, leads to overall stability and growth."
The minister said that being a developing country, India is in a unique position to not only understand the problems that a developing country might face while taking its first steps towards democracy, but can also suggest a whole range of approaches and solutions based on its own experience.
India has strongly supported the creation of the UN democracy fund with an initial contribution of USD 10 million, Ahmed was quoted as saying by the peninsula newspaper.
The Indian delegation to the conference also includes Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, S Charnjit Singh Atwal.
Nearly 1,000 participants representing 82 countries, 65 parliaments and 107 civil societies are attending the conference hosted by Qatar.
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