Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that democracy runs in India’s veins as he dismissed allegations of discrimination against religious minorities in India. He was addressing a joint press conference with the President of the United States of America Joe Biden in Washington D.C.
The Prime Minister said that India and the US are democracies and it is in the DNA of both countries to expand democratic institutions. He was responding to a question from a member of the US media on discrimination of religious minorities and quashing of dissent under his leadership.
Also Read: PM Modi US Visit Live Updates
“Democracy can deliver and when we talk about democracy, there is no discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, religion, etc.,” PM Modi said, adding that he agrees with President Joe Biden when he says that democracy is in the DNA of India and the US.
Emphasizing that democratic values are deeply ingrained in India and the US, the Prime Minister said he was surprised at the statements made about discrimination against religious minorities in India.
The PM further said that democracy is an integral part of the identity and shared heritage of India and the US and that it isn’t just a concept, but a living reality manifested in the constitutions and governments.
Also Read: Indian diaspora on his side, PM’s visit to shore up votes for Lok Sabha elections
“Democracy is in our spirit and we live it… It’s written in our Constitution,” he said.
“That is why, India believes in sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, sabka prayaas and walks ahead with it..,” PM Modi said on the question about measures the government was willing to take to improve the rights of minorities in the country.
The Prime Minister, who is on his first State visit to the US, addressed the press after holding bilateral talks with President Biden at the Oval Office in the White House. He was earlier accorded a ceremonial welcome in the presence of the US administration upon his arrival at the White House. PM Modi called it “an honour for 1.4 billion Indians.”
Greeting the Indian Prime Minister, Joe Biden called the India-US ties as one of the most defining relationships of the 21st century. At the press briefing, the US President dubbed INdo-American ties as the most significant in the world.
“The partnership (between the two countries) is among the most consequential in the world that is stronger, closer and more dynamic in any time in history,” President Biden said.