“India’s chairmanship of International IDEA envisions to share with you all not only the learnings of the world’s oldest, largest, the most diverse and inclusive modern democracy, but also the democratic values and principles deeply enshrined in India’s civilisational heritage,” the CEC said.

He said India’s chairmanship would be “decisive, ambitious and action oriented, demonstrating to the world at large that democracies can lead to a united, peaceful, resilient and sustainable world”.

In a statement, International IDEA said it would work with the Election Commission of India’s India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) on fund projects to “reimagine democracy for the future and strengthening the independence and professionalism of electoral management bodies”.

In his acceptance speech, the CEC spoke of the scale of India’s elections, with over 900 million electors. During the Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission becomes the world’s largest organisation with over 1 million personnel, Kumar said. “India is the mother of democracy and today, it is also the largest democracy in the world,” he said.

“As the chair, I assure you that during my tenure, with the cooperation among all democratic nations, we will work in an exemplary manner to further strengthen and enhance transparency in democracy and democratic processes across the world,” he said.

India has been a member of International IDEA since 1995. The organisation includes 35 democratic countries and two observer nations.