Loksabha Speaker Birla constitutes parliamentary friendship group

In a significant step to widen India’s inter- parliamentary engagement with the world, Lok Sabha Speaker Shri Om Birla has constituted Parliamentary Friendship Groups with more than 60 countries. 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. Senior leaders including Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dr M. Thambidurai, P. Chidambaram, Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav, T.R. Baalu, Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Gaurav Gogoi, Smt. Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Manish Tiwari, Derek O’Brien, Abhishek Banerjee, Asaduddin Owaisi, Akhilesh Yadav, K.C. Venugopal, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Smt. Supriya Sule, Sanjay Singh, Baijayant Panda, Dr Shashi Tharoor, Dr Nishikant Dubey, Anurag Singh Thakur, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Smt. Dr D. Purandeswari, Sanjay Kumar Jha, Smt. Hema Malini, Biplab Kumar Deb, Dr Sudhanshu Trivedi, Jagdambika Pal, Dr Sasmit Patra, Smt. Aparajita Sarangi, Shrikant Eknath Shinde, P.V. Midhun Reddy and Praful Patel, among others, will lead these groups.

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.

(UPDATED ON 23RD FEBRUARY 2026)