US President Joe Biden has invited 110 countries to a virtual summit for democracy on December 9-10, including Nepal, according to a list posted on the State Department website on Tuesday. The list includes major Western allies of the US. It also includes India, Pakistan and Iraq.
In the South Asian region Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have been excluded.
Notably, China and Russia have not been invited in the Summit. According to US State Department website, the summit will focus on challenges and opportunities facing democracies and will provide
a platform for leaders to announce both individual and collective commitments, reforms, and initiatives to defend democracy and human rights at home and abroad.
“For the United States, the summit will offer an opportunity to listen, learn, and engage with a diverse range of actors whose support and commitment is critical for global democratic renewal,” says the statement.
It will also showcase one of democracy’s unique strengths: the ability to acknowledge its imperfections and confront them openly and transparently, so that we may, as the United States Constitution puts it, “form a more perfect union.”
Source : TRN,
