Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has initiated a 'friendship group' to enhance India's parliamentary relations with 60 leading countries worldwide. The team includes Members of Parliament from multiple political parties, including the BJP, Congress, Trinamool, DMK, and Samajwadi Party. This group is tasked with maintaining regular contact with parliamentary representatives of other countries.
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Purpose of the friendship group
The group aims to facilitate direct dialogue between Indian lawmakers and their international counterparts, enabling the exchange of experiences and ideas. It is expected to strengthen bilateral relations while also discussing matters beyond parliamentary procedures, such as trade, technology, social policy, culture, and global challenges to democracy.
Countries included in the group
The friendship group currently covers 60 countries, including Sri Lanka, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, South Africa, Bhutan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Maldives, America, Russia, Britain, South Korea, Nepal, United Kingdom, France, Japan, Italy, Oman, Australia, Greece, Singapore, Brazil, Vietnam, Mexico, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Efforts are ongoing to expand this network to more countries in the future.
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Indian MPs in the group
From West Bengal, MPs Abhishek Banerjee, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien are part of the team. Other notable members include Congress Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram, Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, NCP MP Supriya Sule, BJP MPs Anurag Thakur and Nishikant Dubey, among several others.
This initiative follows earlier efforts such as 'Operation Sindur,' when Indian delegations were sent abroad to share the outcomes and objectives of the operation, involving representatives from multiple political parties.
