New Delhi: Apparently taking a dig at Pakistan's military leadership, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on January 22 said even rulers in khaki felt the need to seek some kind of Democratic legitimacy.

"Coups, bloody power struggles and military take-overs have come to be seen as anathema to the ethos of our times. Even rulers in khaki have felt the need to seek some kind of Democratic legitimacy," he told the inaugural function of the three- day International Parliamentary Conference here to mark the Golden Jubilee of Indian Parliament.

Observing that just as the international community has cherished India's successes along the path of Democratic development since Independence, Vajpayee said, "We too have greatly valued the victorious march of Democracy around the globe".

Recalling that the closing decades of the last Century had seen collapse of totalitarian systems, he said the dogmas that sustained dictatorships of various stripes, and advertised their superiority over Democracy in development and human welfare, had collapsed.

"If the 20th Century saw the global growth of Democracy, the new Century should see its further expansion and enrichment," he said.

PTI