US President Joe Biden reiterated the nation’s commitment to strengthen democracy at home and around the world at the end of the two-day Summit for Democracy on Friday, even though he admitted that democratic values are in danger globally.

“Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to renew it with each generation,” he said on Thursday. He condemned autocrats saying that they justify their repressive policies and practices as a more efficient way to address today’s challenges and that they fan the flames of societal division and political polarisation.

However, he also noted that people are becoming dissatisfied with their democratic governments as their needs are not getting fulfilled.

“Democracy is hard. We all know that. We don’t agree on everything, but the choices we make together are going to define, in my view, the course of our shared future for generations to come,” Biden admitted.

The summit covered topics like countering corruption, protecting human rights, and strengthening democracy. The Covid-19 pandemic and the recovery process were also discussed. Many activists, leaders and politicians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attended this multi-nation summit. In his remarks on Friday, Modi said, “The India story has one clear message to the world. That democracy can deliver, that democracy has delivered, and that democracy will continue to deliver.”

Who’s in?

The summit has been controversial from the get-go. The Biden administration invited 110 countries to the summit. However, nations with questionable democracies, like Pakistan (which did not attend the summit), were invited, but Sri Lanka and Singapore were not.

The emphasis on democracy is also a way to directly put pressure on traditional foe Russia and China, the US’ latest rival. Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov and China’s Ambassador to the US Qin Gang wrote an article denounced the US’ move, before the summit.

The Biden administration’s move to invite Taiwan and Nathan Law, an activist from Hong Kong, did not go well with China. In a commentary, China’s CGTN's slammed Biden for “trying to blame China and other countries that weren't invited while ignoring the root causes of America's spectacular dysfunction.”

“‘Democracy’ has long become a ‘weapon of mass destruction’ used by the US to interfere in other countries,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in an online statement and claimed the summit was organised by the US to "instrumentalise and weaponize democracy."

The summit could have been a way for the US to reclaim trust of their allies after the debacle in Afghanistan. However, the US has often allied with repressive regimes around the world to further their own interests. In these challenging times, it remains to be seen if the US will stick to its commitment for human rights and democracy.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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