India’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Rajiv Kumar is leading a high-level Election Commission of India (ECI) delegation to Greece to meet with the Co-lead members of the Democracy Cohort on Election Integrity, according to a tweet by the Indian Embassy to Greece on Saturday.

The Embassy tweet also shared pictures of Kumar being welcomed on his arrival in Athens. “ECI delegation will also have bilateral meetings with the Directorate of Elections, Ministry of Interior, and the Hellenic Republic to discuss bilateral cooperation on Election Management and Integrity,” read the Embassy tweet.

The ECI-led delegation will also interact with the Indian Diaspora in Greece to brief them about registration and participation of Overseas Indian Voters, the tweet further read.

Recently, a German delegation led by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock met CEC Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi.

In a press note, the ECI said the German Foreign Minister was accompanied by four Members of Parliament and other officers from her Foreign Office. Speaking on the occasion, CEC Rajiv Kumar said that the idea of democracy is deeply rooted in India’s historical context and traditions.

Giving an overview of the magnitude of Indian elections, he informed the German delegation of the detailed exercise that ECI conducts for over 950 million voters across 1.1 million polling stations, co-opting 11 million Polling Personnel ensuring robust electoral processes for conducting free, fair, inclusive, accessible and participative elections. He emphasised that ECI ensures disclosures and participation of political parties at every stage.

Kumar said that apart from the logistical challenges, the disruptive impact of fake social media narratives potentially affecting free and fair elections is fast emerging as a common challenge for most Elections Management Bodies.
The German Foreign Minister while interacting with the Commission appreciated the vast exercise of electoral management by ECI in the largest democracy in the world given the challenges of diverse geography, culture and electorate in India.