IICDEM-2026: Election Commission Holds Bilateral Meetings with Heads of 32 Election Bodies
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar addresses the launch of ECINET at Bharat Mandapam, in New Delhi on Thursday.
New Delhi, January 22: The Election Commission of India on Thursday held bilateral meetings with heads of 32 election management bodies (EMBs) from across the world on the sidelines of the India International Conference on Democracy and Election Management (IICDEM)-2026.
The meetings were led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
According to the Election Commission, the discussions covered a wide range of global electoral experiences, institutional innovations and emerging challenges in election management. The engagements were aimed at strengthening India’s long-standing partnerships in democratic cooperation and electoral governance.
Collaboration on Electoral Technology
During the interactions, India offered to collaborate with participating EMBs in developing digital election platforms similar to ECINET, in accordance with each country’s legal framework and linguistic requirements. The Election Commission also extended support for training election officials from partner EMBs through the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management.
Several EMBs expressed interest in adopting technology-driven electoral solutions inspired by India’s digital election management systems, particularly the ECINET platform, the Commission said.
Global Dialogue on Democratic Governance
The bilateral meetings were described as setting the tone for high-level global dialogue on the future of democracy and electoral governance. The interactions also aligned with India’s broader international outreach under the theme of its chairship of the International IDEA — Democracy for inclusive, peaceful, resilient and sustainable world.
Participating Countries
Bilateral meetings were held with EMBs from 32 countries, including the United Kingdom, United States, South Africa, Mexico, Indonesia, Portugal, Peru, Estonia, Botswana, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Czech Republic, Maldives, Fiji, Namibia and Uruguay, among others.
The Election Commission said meetings with the remaining EMB heads attending IICDEM-2026 would continue in the following sessions of the conference.
