We are democrats of different nations and cultures who have gathered in India, the world's largest democracy, to consider how the prospect for democracy in the world can be advanced on the eve of a new millennium. It is our belief that the time has come for democrats throughout the world to develop new forms of cooperation to promote the development of democracy. Such cooperation is needed to strengthen democracy where it is weak, to reform and invigorate democracy even where it is longstanding, and to bolster pro-democracy groups in countries that have not yet entered into a process of democratic transition.

 

We welcome this gathering of delegates drawn from over 80 countries and from many different sectors to build a world movement for democracy. We affirm that the movement toward democracy is a process which a large number of countries are part of, and which no one country has completely achieved or applied consistently to itself or to others. While holding that the forms of democratic governance are plural (there being no single model of democracy to be followed), we have been inspired by the experiences of those who have been in the forefront of democracy movements in countries that have taken the democratic path in recent years. MORE