New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that India has proven to the world that democracy can deliver and the criticism of India's democratic institutions by some people is owing to their success.

During his keynote address at the India Today Conclave 2023 on Saturday, Modi said, “In any nation's development, the stagnation in policy-making is one of the biggest obstacles. In our country, because of old thinking and old approaches, because of the limitation of some families, there has been a long stagnation.”

“If we want to move ahead, there must be momentum, the courage to take decisions. If the nation wants to grow, there should be the capability to embrace novelty,” he said.

PM Modi highlighted the strength of India's democratic institutions and cited several examples of newly established democratic institutions within India over the past few years.

“Today, the world is noting how a democratically elected government is taking decisions. India has shown the world that democracy can deliver. In years gone by, India created several democratic institutions, like the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, NITI Aayog, NCLT, and GST council. The world is watching how people's democratic participation is increasing more and more. Even during the pandemic, polls were successfully carried out in the country. This is the strength of our institutions,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

PM Modi said, “In the midst of a global pandemic, India's economy was strong, and the banking system was resilient. And this is the strength of our institutions."

He added, “The success of our democracy and democratic institutions is causing envy and that is why our democracy and democratic institutions are being attacked."

“But amid these attacks, India will walk towards its goal at full speed and achieve its goals,” PM Modi said.

Notably, at an event in London, Rahul Gandhi had sought Europe and US intervention to save democracy in India.

The Congress leader had said that India's democracy "has come undone" and asked, "why Europe and the US, the defenders of democracies, were oblivious of it?”