Prabowo Praises India's Democracy: 1.4 Billion People, Peaceful Government Transitions

President Prabowo Subianto has praised India’s democratic climate, stating that despite having a population of billions, India has been able to maintain governmental stability. He conveyed this during a speech at an Indian community event held at the Jakarta International Convention Centre (JICC), Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday evening. Prabowo initially spoke about democracy as the best system for achieving a just and inclusive national life. “Democracy is not an easy path, not an easy system. It is not easy. Sometimes it is very messy. But I think we agree that it is the best system for justice, for hope, for inclusivity,” Prabowo said. He acknowledged that democracy is inseparable from various challenges, including threats and attempts by certain parties to weaken the system. However, Prabowo stressed that these challenges do not diminish the commitment to continue safeguarding and defending democracy. “There are dangers in democracy. There are traps. There are obstacles. There are people who want to hijack democracy. But we cannot give up. We must believe in democracy and we must strive to defend democracy. It is the best way of all the systems we have tried, that human civilisation has tried,” he asserted. Prabowo further expressed appreciation for India’s success as the world’s largest democracy in maintaining governmental stability amidst diversity. He noted that India’s achievement of peaceful government transitions over many years is a feat from which Indonesia can learn. “We look at India, a country of 1.4 billion people, many, many ethnic groups like us, many different regional languages. But managing so many years of peaceful government transitions in many states. And in the Union of India itself,” he said. Prabowo called this a remarkable achievement and admitted that he himself studies India’s democracy. “This is a remarkable achievement. And Indonesia, I myself also study this and follow the remarkable achievements of India,” he stated. He went on to urge all levels of Indonesian society to continue learning from India’s experience in strengthening democracy, a lesson he deemed important for Indonesia as a nation that also possesses great diversity. “The important thing is, the Indonesian people must learn from the experience of India,” Prabowo concluded.