New Delhi, February 24
Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari has been nominated as the President of the India–Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group. The 11-member Group headed by Tewari also includes three MPs from Punjab – Sangrur MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi.
Meanwhile, According to an official communiqué issued in this regard, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has constituted Parliamentary Friendship Groups with more than 60 countries with an aim to widen India’s inter-parliamentary engagement with the world. The move reflects a conscious effort by the Indian Parliament to deepen dialogue and exchanges with legislatures across continents and to complement traditional diplomacy with sustained parliamentary interaction.
The Friendship Groups bring together Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum. Some of the countries with whom Parliamentary Friendship Groups have been constituted include Sri Lanka, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, South Africa, Bhutan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Maldives, USA, Russia, EU Parliament, South Korea, Nepal, United Kingdom, France, Japan, Italy, Oman, Australia, Greece, Singapore, Brazil, Vietnam, Mexico, Iran and UAE.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dr. M. Thambidurai, P. Chidambaram, Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav, T.R. Baalu, Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Gaurav Gogoi, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Manish Tewari, Derek O’Brien, Abhishek Banerjee, Asaduddin Owaisi, Akhilesh Yadav, K.C. Venugopal, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Supriya Sule, Sanjay Singh, Baijayant Panda, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Dr Nishikant Dubey, Anurag Singh Thakur, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Dr. D. Purandeswari, Sanjay Kumar Jha, Hema Malini, Biplab Kumar Deb, Dr. Sudhanshu Trivedi, Jagdambika Pal, Dr. Sasmit Patra, Aparajita Sarangi, Shrikant Eknath Shinde, P.V. Midhun Reddy and Praful Patel, among others, will lead these groups.
The idea behind the initiative is to allow lawmakers to speak directly to their counterparts abroad, share legislative experience and build trust through regular engagement and exchange best practices to further strengthen bilateral relations and promote greater mutual understanding. Beyond parliamentary procedure, the groups are expected to facilitate conversations on trade, technology, social policy, culture and global challenges that democracies face today.
LS Speaker Om Birla has consistently emphasized the role of parliamentary diplomacy in strengthening India’s global standing. Under his stewardship, Parliament has taken a more active role in international forums, projecting India not only as a political power but as a confident and mature democracy willing to engage, listen, and collaborate.
By prioritizing Parliament-to-Parliament and people-to-people connections, this initiative signals a more participatory approach to foreign engagement. The Friendship Groups will enable structured exchanges through dialogues, study visits, and joint discussions, helping to sustain long-term cooperation rooted in democratic values. In doing so, the Indian Parliament reinforces its role as a bridge between nations and as a living reflection of the world’s largest democracy.
It is important to recall that post Operation Sindoor, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken the initiative to send multi-party delegations to various countries to convey India’s point of view. By bringing together leaders from different political parties and ideologies to represent India on the global stage, the initiative rose above partisan boundaries and underscored a powerful message: when it comes to the nation’s security and interests, India stands united. The move demonstrated faith in dialogue, inclusiveness, and collective responsibility – core strengths of India’s democracy. It showed that on matters of national interest, India speaks in one voice. The decision of the Lok Sabha Speaker to form Friendship Groups with more than 60 countries is an important step in this direction. While friendship groups have been constituted with more than 60 countries in the first phase, efforts are being made to constitute these groups with many more countries in the near future.
