Venkaiah Naidu invokes Jawaharlal Nehru in Serbian Parliament to stress importance of democracy

Belgrade: Observing that the Indian Parliament has evolved as a democratic forum that listens and responds to diverse concerns, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu invoked first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the Serbian Parliament on Saturday to highlight the importance of democracy for participatory development. On the occasion of International Day of Democracy, Naidu on Saturday addressed the special session of the National Assembly of Serbia, wherein he recalled the shared vision with which leaders of both countries played a key role in launching the Non Aligned Movement. [caption id=“attachment_5135711” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of M Venkaiah Naidu. PTI[/caption] “Our ties started on a strong foundation of a shared global view of Non-Aligned Movement, and we together created a large platform for the third world. The changes in global geo-politics now again give us an opportunity to work together for mutual benefit and for sharing prosperity with others,” said Naidu, addressing Serbian lawmakers. Recalling Nehru’s 1961 address at Conference of Non-Aligned nations in Belgrade, Naidu said: “His call which rings so true and relevant even today was to build in our own country’s societies where freedom is real. “Freedom is essential because freedom will give us strength and enable us to build prosperous societies,” he said, quoting Nehru. “We must strive to strengthen our democratic polities and internalise the concepts of freedom, dialogue, inclusion and rule of law in our governance structures.” Giving an detailed account of the growth and consolidation of parliamentary democracy in India, Naidu said the Indian Parliament has “evolved as a democratic forum that attentively listens to complex voices from different parts of the vast country and responds to diverse concerns with agility”. The vice-president also had detailed discussions with Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic on various bilateral and multilateral issues. He gave a detailed account of India’s progress in various fields including an enabling, predictable and reform oriented financial and investment eco-systems offering mutually beneficial partnerships. Voicing concerns over the menace of terrorism, he called for early finalisation of draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.