The success of the seven all-party delegations comprising members of Parliament post Operation Sindoor has opened new vistas in India’s global outreach. The emphasis by Om Birla, the Lok Sabha Speaker, on the need to institutionalise Parliamentary Friendship Groups is pertinent in this context.
PFGs are designed for MPs to better understand foreign legislative processes; anchoring them to India’s strategic and national interests is the logical next step. Our MPs are the perfect ambassadors to carry India’s perspective on a range of policy and trade matters.
The concept of PFGs goes back to an initiative by the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The PFGs established by the Parliaments of IPU member states are intended to complement the IPU’s six-monthly, inter-parliamentary conferences. India had been one of the early starters with the Constituent Assembly adopting a motion for the formation of the Indian Parliamentary Group in 1949 as an autonomous body to promote international arbitration and peace. The IPG, led ex officio by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and other parliamentary dignitaries, serves as India’s national group within international bodies like the IPU and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Its key functions include facilitating MPs’ personal contacts, organising lectures on national importance, and coordinating foreign visits.
The run-up to the outreach by all-party delegations had witnessed political potshots, with one delegation even needing a rejig to allay the Opposition’s concerns. That episode revealed a very present risk: PFGs will remain politically contentious unless there are transparent guidelines about their formation — perhaps their composition should mirror the party-wise nominations sought for Parliamentary Standing Committees.
Groups of parliamentarians have been effectively used by many countries to broadcast their points of view. In France, 81 different PFGs exist, facilitating knowledge sharing on issues ranging from trade and climate to technology. In June, the Nepal-United Kingdom Parliamentary Friendship Group held a successful meeting to discuss enhancement of investments in both countries. PFGs in both Swedish and Mongolian Parliaments bolstered diplomatic and legislative ties. There are also issue-based PFGs, such as the first-ever multi-party Parliamentary Friends of Refugees Group in Australia that aims to inform other parliamentarians about refugees and people seeking asylum to promote fairer policies for them.
Clear norms can keep the focus sharply on the work PFGs do rather than their composition. In Germany, no member of the Bundestag is allowed to join more than three PFGs. In the Indian context, the IPG, in tandem with the ministry of external affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office, can coordinate on inductions, delegation-level visits co-curated with embassies, while also ensuring that these groups are truly bipartisan and have access to subject-matter expertise.
Each PFG in India should be required to submit an annual work plan outlining its objectives, planned activities, and expected outcomes. This may require a consultative process involving the MEA, parliamentary committees and relevant ministries. Robust accountability frameworks are essential to assess the impact of PFGs on foreign policy, justify budget allocations, and prioritise high-performing groups for enhanced resources. Formal mechanisms should allow PFGs to feed recommendations back to parliamentary committees and the MEA. PFGs should also collaborate with Indian industry bodies, consultants, academia, and think tanks to create dynamic investment and policy bridges.
To be able to pull off diplomatic wins using PFGs would be a game-changer, bringing our MPs to the centre stage of India’s foreign policy ambitions.
Swati Sudhakaran and Abantika Ghosh work with Chase Advisors. Views are personal