Amid No-Confidence Heat, Om Birla Unveils 64-Nation Parliamentary Outreach, Hands Key Roles to Opposition Leaders
With a no-confidence motion looming against him, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has rolled out a sweeping diplomatic initiative — constituting Parliamentary Friendship Groups with 64 countries and placing several senior Opposition leaders at the helm of many of them.
The move, announced days before the Lok Sabha reconvenes for the second phase of the Budget Session on March 9, comes at a politically sensitive moment.
The Opposition has accused the Speaker of functioning in a “blatantly partisan” manner and is preparing to press its no-confidence resolution in the Lower House.
Yet, in a gesture that signals cross-party engagement beyond domestic contestation, Birla has entrusted more than a dozen friendship groups to prominent Opposition figures.
Each group comprises 11 members, including representatives from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Opposition Leaders to Head Key Global Groups
Among those appointed to chair the parliamentary friendship groups are:
- Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor (France), P Chidambaram (Italy), K C Venugopal (Portugal), Manish Tewari (Australia), and Gaurav Gogoi (Philippines).
- DMK’s K Kanimozhi (Greece).
- Trinamool Congress leaders Derek O’Brien (Chile) and Abhishek Banerjee (Algeria).
- Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant (Morocco).
- NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule (Singapore).
- AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi (Oman).
- Samajwadi Party leaders Akhilesh Yadav (Japan) and Ram Gopal Yadav (Egypt).
- AAP’s Sanjay Singh (Caribbean nations).
- RSP’s N K Premachandran (Madagascar).
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been appointed a member of the Japan friendship group, chaired by Akhilesh Yadav.
Notably, several Opposition MPs who were suspended during the first phase of the Budget Session have also been included.
These include Manickam Tagore (Indonesia), Gurjeet Singh Aujla (Italy), Hibi Eden (Singapore), Amrinder Singh Raja Warring (UK), Prashant Padole (Trinidad and Tobago), Dean Kuriakose (Saudi Arabia), and C. Kiran Kumar Reddy (South Korea). CPI(M) MP S. Venkatesan has been made part of the group for Cuba.
BJP and NDA Leaders Assigned Strategic Countries
Senior BJP leaders have also been appointed as chairpersons of key friendship groups:
- Ravi Shankar Prasad (United Kingdom)
- Baijayant Panda (United States)
- Nishikant Dubey (Russia)
- Anurag Thakur (European Parliament, Brussels)
- Rajiv Pratap Rudy (Switzerland)
- Bhartruhari Mahtab (Israel)
- Hema Malini (South Africa)
- Ashok Chavan (Argentina)
- Samik Bhattacharya (New Zealand)
- Aparajita Sarangi (Tanzania)
Allied party leaders have also been entrusted with roles, including Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde (Indonesia), JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha (Germany), AIADMK’s M Thambidurai (Nigeria), and TDP’s Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu.
Parliamentary Diplomacy as Strategic Outreach
According to a note from the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the initiative aims to facilitate direct dialogue between Indian lawmakers and their international counterparts.
The objective is to share legislative experiences, exchange best practices, and strengthen bilateral ties beyond conventional executive diplomacy.
Members of the friendship groups are expected to engage their counterparts on trade, technology, social policy, cultural exchange, parliamentary procedure, and broader global challenges confronting democracies.
Birla described the initiative as a deliberate effort to deepen legislative engagement across continents and to complement traditional diplomatic channels with sustained parliamentary interaction.
Officials say such Parliament-to-Parliament and people-to-people frameworks reflect a more participatory model of foreign engagement.
Context: Post-Operation Sindoor Diplomacy
The initiative follows India’s assertive parliamentary outreach after Operation Sindoor in May last year, when seven multiparty delegations were dispatched to 33 countries to present India’s position against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
Against the backdrop of an impending no-confidence motion, the formation of these 64 friendship groups signals an attempt to project institutional inclusivity at home while expanding India’s legislative footprint abroad.
Whether this outreach tempers political friction in Parliament remains to be seen, but it undeniably broadens the stage on which India’s lawmakers now operate.
