US 2nd Democracy Summit
Editor's Note: The author is Dr Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, Executive Director of the Center for South Asia & International Studies (CSAIS) Islamabad and Regional Expert on China, BRI & CPEC. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of Gwadar Pro.
It seems that the US-sponsored 2nd Democracy Summit has also various resemblances with the western so-called white-man superiority and cultural comparative advantage having fake civic qualities and fragmented human rights.
Thus it stands for human division, racial discrimination, ethnic suppression, communal confrontation, bloc mentality and last but not least, systematic charge-sheet against other developing countries.
Experts of international relations and political sciences agree that western democracy is not the only perfect system of democracy in the world and that there are also other governing systems which are more active, interactive, and integrated, with people-friendly policies.
The only difference between them is the level of delivery, efficiency, transparency, accountability, and openness in society which should not necessarily be a Western-style democracy.
The government of Pakistan rightly announced on March 28 that it would not participate in U.S.-led Summit for Democracy. The Biden administration invited 120 global leaders to the summit held in Washington on March 29-30. Pakistan's foreign ministry in a statement thanked the United States and its co-hosts for the invitation and said Pakistan would engage the United States and co-hosts of the summit to promote and strengthen democratic principles. PTI-led government also refused to attend the first edition of the US-led democracy summit held in December 2021.
Ironically, the 2nd democracy summit did not invite China or Turkyie and thus the summit itself violated the true spirits of democracy i.e. equality, free will, fair play, decency, accommodation and last but not least, human equity.
Policymakers and experts of foreign policy, international relations and diplomacy strongly defend the timely and just stance of the government of Pakistan to avoid the said event. They termed it a right approach at right time and a correct decision.
The US-led democracy summit is a poisonous dissemination of human values because it is driven by America's contain-China strategy. Moreover, inviting Taiwan made it even more impossible for Pakistan to attend.
The US summit vividly reflects a blind representation of the "zero-sum theory," which has inherent arrogance, lacks holistic association, promotes hegemony instead of universal harmony, and has imperialistic designs instead of world integration in its composition, scope, utility, and strategic importance.
On its part, China said that the US-led “so-called” Summit for Democracy outrightly draws an ideological line between countries and creates division. In this connection, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning termed it a violation of the basic spirit of democracy. She also showcased the true motives of the US behind the facade of democracy i.e. the “US theory of China Containment”.
It vividly reflects the western de-facto supremacy-oriented unilateralism instead of joint work for upholding of true spirits of international solidarity, cooperation and true multilateralism based on the purposes and principles of the UN charter.
To conclude, the US-led 2nd democracy summit is a farce which has nothing to do with a functional governance system in the world. It stands for division, discrimination and distortion. It is another US failed attempt to contain China and defame its internationally recognized efforts for equality, global governance, socio-economic prosperity and human dignity alike.
The world is in need of a conference of multiculturalism, ethnic diversity, interfaith harmony, economic sustainability, social harmony and last but not least, regional peace and stability and real do-able actions to lessen the disputes and promote spirits of dialogue, diplomacy and development in the world.
