(a) whether the second Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies was held at Seoul recently;
(b) if so, the details of Indian participation therein including the issues raised by it;
(c) the details of other issues discussed; and
(d) the outcome thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS(SHRI DIGVIJAY SINGH)
(a) to (d) A statement is enclosed.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1547 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.11.2002 REGARDING `CONFERENCE OF COMMUNITY OF DEMOCRACIES`
The second Ministerial Conference of Community of Democracies was held at Seoul from November 10-12, 2002. External Affairs Minister led the Indian delegation. India is a member of the Convening Group of countries, which coordinates the activities of the Community of Democracies. External Affairs Minister also co-chaired a Round Table on the theme of `Media and Democracy` and presented the views of the Round Table at the concluding Plenary.
The Conference involving over one hundred democracies saw deliberations on the essential elements of representative Democracy. Among the elements reiterated were: exercise of power in accordance with the rule of law, holding of free and fair elections, separation of powers and constitutional subordination of all State institutions, including the military, to the legally constituted civilian authority. Other issues discussed related to measures to promote democratic ideals, responding to threats to democracy, education for democracy, role of media and promoting democracies through good governance. The special vulnerabilities of democracies to terrorist threats were also discussed.
The Conference adopted a Seoul Plan of Action and a Statement on Terrorism. These documents also outline a tough set of measures against countries where there is a disruption of constitutional rule or which support terrorism. These include exclusion from the Community of Democracies and also, inter alia, suspension of bilateral relations and trade, in particular for countries which support terrorism. The Statement on Terrorism also expresses clearly that terrorism is a threat to international peace and security, crime against humanity and that particularly cross-border, state-sponsored terrorism constitutes a trans-national challenge to democracy.
On all these issues India played an active and influential role.