At a time when the global order is being recalibrated and geopolitical tensions are deepening across regions, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has unveiled an expansive parliamentary outreach initiatives in recent years.
The constitution of 64 Parliamentary Friendship Groups, involving more than 700 Members of Parliament and covering over 60 countries, is being seen as a deliberate attempt to project the collective strength of India's legislature at a sensitive international moment.
This is also being seen as the Speakers outreach to the opposition after a frosty budget session which also witnessed the opposition seeking to move a no confidence motion against him. Many delegations are being led by opposition MPs.
Sources said the idea was to tell the world that India is not engaging the global community only through its executive. It is placing its Parliament at the centre of global democratic dialogue. In an era marked by conflict in Europe, turbulence in West Asia and realignments in the Indo-Pacific, parliamentary diplomacy provides an additional channel of influence. Lawmakers, particularly when drawn from across party lines, often carry a credibility that formal state diplomacy alone cannot.
The initiative builds directly on the experience of the multiparty delegations sent to more than 20 countries following Operation Sindoor. Those seven delegations, comprising MPs from the ruling alliance and the opposition, travelled across continents to articulate India's position on Pakistan sponsored terrorism and the military strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Within government circles, the outreach was widely viewed as a diplomatic success.
An MP who led one of those missions told NDTV that members are now awaiting a formal briefing on how the Friendship Groups will operate. He said the Operation Sindoor experience had prompted delegations to urge the Prime Minister to institutionalise such engagement. The aim was to create a formal framework that would ensure sustained dialogue, regular feedback and early political signals from foreign capitals so that India is not taken by surprise by global shifts.
Bipartisan Leadership Across Continents
The composition of the new Friendship Groups underscores that institutional intent. Veteran Congress leader P Chidambaram will lead the delegation to Italy, while Shashi Tharoor heads France. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will chair the Japan group, which includes Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as a member. DMK leader K Kanimozhi leads Greece, while her party colleague T R Baalu heads Malaysia and Tiruchi Siva chairs Bahrain.
Among other opposition leaders, Supriya Sule will head Singapore, Derek O'Brien leads Chile, and Abhishek Banerjee chairs Algeria. Kodikunnil Suresh heads Qatar, while K. C. Venugopal leads Portugal, with Trinamool's Mahua Moitra as a member of that group. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi heads Oman.
From the ruling BJP and NDA ranks, senior figures have been assigned key strategic geographies. Baijayant Panda will lead the United States delegation. Ravi Shankar Prasad heads the United Kingdom group. Nishikant Dubey will lead Russia, while Anurag Thakur heads the European Union Parliament group in Brussels. Neeraj Shekhar leads Nepal. BJP leader Bhartuhari Mahtab chairs Israel, and Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Sudhanshu Trivedi are associated with Saudi Arabia.
NDA MPs such as Shrikant Shinde and JDU's Sanjay Jha critical for the BJP at the centre have also been nominated as chairpersons. Actress turned MP Kangana Ranaut is among those associated with European engagement, including France. Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi and Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav are also among those heading groups.
By current estimates, well over a dozen delegations are being chaired by opposition leaders. That distribution is politically significant.
Outreach At Home, Signalling Abroad
The domestic context makes the Speaker's move even more striking. The ongoing Budget Session has been marred by repeated disruptions. The Opposition has indicated its intention to move a no confidence motion against the Speaker, alleging partisan conduct in the House. Yet many of the same opposition MPs, including some who were recently suspended, have been accommodated within the Friendship Groups framework.
Congress MPs such as Manickam Tagore, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, Amarinder Singh Raj Warring, Prashant Padole, Dean Kuriakose and C Kiran Kumar Reddy have been included as members of various groups. CPM member S Venkatesan is also part of the network.
This is interesting as many of them were also suspended last session for allegedly disruptive behaviour during protests in the house. Sources said the speaker wanted to send out a message that political contestation at home does not preclude collective engagement abroad.
Certain appointments also carry domestic sensitivities. Congress MP Shafi Parambil has been placed in the Israel group, a politically delicate assignment given polarised opinion in Kerala over the Israel Palestine conflict. Meanwhile, the Ukraine group led by Arvind Dharmapuri includes former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, placing it at the intersection of a live global conflict.
Taken together, the Friendship Groups initiative reflects a strategic recalibration. As geopolitical uncertainties multiply, India is widening its diplomatic toolkit. Parliamentary diplomacy is being institutionalised as a standing mechanism rather than an ad hoc exercise.
Experts that NDTV spoke with said If these groups remain active beyond ceremonial exchanges and periodic visits, they could serve as early warning channels, trust building platforms and political bridges.
