Describing the forthcoming general elections as a "defining moment" for India, New Delhi's envoy in Washington today said that the choices that Indian voters make would have significant implications not only for the country, but also for the US and the world.
"Clearly, we are approaching a defining moment where choices made would have significant implications for India of course, but for the United States and the world as well," India's Ambassador to the US, S Jaishankar, said in his address to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
The world will see an Indian electorate, now more than 800 million out of a population of 1.2 billion, cast its votes for the 16th time since independence. This is in itself an event of considerable significance for a variety of reasons,he said.
"It is living proof that democratic rights are not just the privilege of the rich and developed. In recent years, it is also a demonstration that economic and social growth does not require a curtailing of freedom," the ambassador said.
"For all its imperfections and frustrations, this Indian political system faces no question marks of either viability or legitimacy. On the contrary, voter turnouts have been as high as 70 per cent and the results of polls have been accepted by all parties," he said.
"For Americans, these Indian elections should represent a validation of their ideals and principles, that too under the most difficult of conditions. If any of you actually witness the commitment and enthusiasm visible in this mammoth exercise, I can confidently predict that your belief in the future political direction of the world will stand reaffirmed," he said.
Jaishankar told the Chicago audience that roughly half the Indian electorate is below the age of 35 and one in six voters will be casting their vote for the first time.
About 350 million Indians have acquired a cellphone since the last elections, raising their level of awareness and connectivity.
And finally while urban India still constitutes a third of the total population, rural India is getting more urbanised in its thinking, in its consciousness and in its consumption patterns.
"The cumulative impact of these factors is of rising hopes and public impatience. That is the challenge that our politics will be addressing in the coming months," he said.
"This tide of expectations will also help shape economic policies as much as they will foreign policy. All foreign policies have their roots in domestic politics. But the foreign policy of a society undergoing rapid change is especially driven by priorities at home," Jaishankar said.
