India, along with the G7 and four invited countries, signed a "Declaration on Resilient Democracies to 2022" on Monday, pledging to "protect the freedom, independence and diversity of civil society actors" and "protect freedom of expression and opinion" online and offline.

A four-page statement after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the G-7 summit in Germany said: "We, the leaders of Germany, Argentina, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Senegal, South Africa and the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union reaffirm our commitment to strengthening the stability of our democracies.

"We commend all courageous defenders of democratic systems who oppose oppression and violence, and we promote international cooperation to promote the resilience of democratic societies around the world," the statement said.

The signatories say that democracies can allow for "open debate in public, independent and pluralistic media" and "free flow of information online and offline" and improve legitimacy, transparency, accountability and accountability to citizens and elected representatives.

And that they were ready to defend these principles and decided:

* Protect freedom of speech and opinion online and offline and ensure a free and independent media environment through our cooperation with relevant international initiatives.

* Ensure an open, free, global, interoperable, reliable and secure Internet. * Increase the cyber security of the digital infrastructure, including improving and sharing knowledge on cyber threats and expanding cooperation in responding to cyber issues.

* Addressing hybrid threats, in particular manipulation and cancellation of information, including misinformation.

* Collaborate to combat information manipulation, promote accurate information, and defend our shared democratic values ​​around the world.

* Promote affordable access to a range of trusted and reliable sources of information and data, both online and offline, including multi-stakeholder access and by improving digital skills and digital literacy.

* Improve the transparency of actions on online platforms to combat violent, extremist and provocative online content. The statement said that democracies lay the foundations and protect them for free and vibrant civic spaces, engaging civic engagement and political participation, which in turn promotes meaningful legitimacy, creativity and innovation. , social responsibility and responsibility.

It read: "We promise:

* Protecting the freedom, liberty and diversity of civil society actors, acting against threats to civil space and respecting freedom of association and peaceful assembly.

* Build resilience to destructive foreign interference and acts of transnational oppression that seek to undermine confidence in government, society and the media, shrink civic space and silence critical voices.

* Advanced programs to protect human rights defenders and all those who expose corruption.

It states that democracies promote unity and non-discriminatory, diverse, honest, accessible and inclusive environments that allow for equal representation and political participation. Countries have also committed themselves to "protecting freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief and promoting interfaith dialogue" and "promoting social cohesion, solidarity and inclusion of all members of society online and offline, while promoting all forms of discrimination and violence".