Will experience India’s election first hand: Australia’s envoy

India’s general election that started on Friday is the “largest electoral process” of the world, said Philip Green

India’s general election that started on Friday is the “largest electoral process” of the world, said Philip Green, Australian High Commissioner to India. In a social media post, Mr. Green announced that he will personally venture out in the coming weeks to experience the political contest that will usher in the next elected government of India. Several other foreign diplomats, including the Consul-General of Israel to South India, have also commented on the beginning of the general election.

“India’s national polls is the largest electoral process in the world. Look forward to experiencing it first hand, starting this weekend in Kerala. I’ll be dropping in to campaigns of as many sides as possible, and am keen to hear the opinions of as many Indians on the streets as possible,” said High Commissioner Green on Friday.  The Australian envoy became the first western diplomat to announce that he will mix with the public to witness the election process in India. Unlike countries in the neighbourhood, India traditionally does not invite foreign observers to witness its election process, though foreign diplomats based in India are known to observe the campaigns and the polling process keenly. It is notable that the Australian High Commissioner had earlier drawn attention after he had put out a social media post remembering Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, Philip and Timothy, who were murdered by a communally charged mob in Orissa on January 23, 1999.

In recent years, Australia and India have drawn closer on several fronts, especially after the two sides became members of the Quad grouping also consisting of the U.S. and Japan. The growing bonhomie in the strategic front was however marked by growing presence of pro-Khalistan elements in Australia’s cities which on multiple occasions led India to seek remedial measures from the government of Australia. In recent years, several countries have witnessed spillover effects of Indian politics with western figures like Greta Thunberg and artist Rehanna facing online fury from pro-government individuals for supporting the farmers during the 2020-21 anti-farm law protest.

Like Mr. Green, Israeli diplomat Tammy Ben-Haim has spoken about the election. On social media platform X, Ms. Ben-Haim reposted a notification from the Election Commission and described India as her “favourite largest democracy in the world”. Atul Keshap, president of the U.S.-India Business Council also congratulated India and said, “With 970 million eligible voters and 1.2 million polling places, India’s national election is the Maha Kumbh Mela of Democracy.” India is one of the several countries going to polls this year. In the neighbourhood, already, Bangladesh and Pakistan witnessed election this year and Maldives will face the parliamentary election on April 21.

Foreign observers were part of the election in Bangladesh that took place on January 7. The election was controversial as the main Opposition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, alleged a crackdown and had refused to participate in the election as it wanted the polling to be held under a neutral political set-up. In the face of growing international criticism and fear of sanctions, the Sheikh Hasina government had sent Foreign Secretary Masood Bin Momen to New Delhi who engaged diplomats stationed in Delhi and welcomed international observers to Bangladesh.

The run-up to the Indian election has witnessed several occasions when western countries commented about political developments in India. The United States and Germany both expressed concern about the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Subsequently, the U.S. also took note of the freezing of the bank accounts of the principal Opposition party Congress. This was however not the first time that the U.S. had expressed concern about domestic developments in India. In the past few years, U.S. authorities often expressed concern about what they perceived as erosion in freedom of religion in India that the Ministry of External Affairs denied. However, the State Department on Thursday said that the U.S. was not interested in sending observers for the Indian election. “We generally don’t, in the case of advanced democracies like in the case of India,” Vedant Patel, Deputy Spokesperson of the Sate Department told journalists on Thursday.