As India rises and its capabilities grow, the country will naturally contribute more to the world, and a civilisational state re-emerging on the global stage will obviously create its own imprint, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said today.
Addressing an international webinar "Independent India @75: Democratic Traditions", conducted by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, S Jaishankar said as India becomes ever more democratic, democracy will also become ever more Indian, both in its sensibilities and texture.
Democracy is not just incomplete without delivery, but this can even affect its credibility, he asserted.
Whether it is in providing access to toilets, electricity and piped water, or in the near universalisation of bank accounts, democratic means are now realising democratic ends, S Jaishankar said.
"The equality of the vote must necessarily co-exist with the equity of human dignity. One is pointless without the other. Seen in that framework, India's ongoing accomplishments are validating its democratic credentials," he said.
S Jaishankar said the country's external outlook inevitably goes together with its internal values and it is only to be expected that a nation and a people will be comfortable with others of a similar bent of mind. It also encourages the like-minded to work together on global issues, he added.