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The people’s newsroom

ParliamentBRICS

Birla meets Egypt's Sameh Shoukry on eve of BRICS Parliamentary Forum, which opens on Monday

The Lok Sabha Speaker thanked Egypt for condemning the Pahalgam attack. Delegations from 11 BRICS members and 10 partner countries were invited to the two-day forum in New Delhi.

From the editorial desk · New DelhiPublished
Egypt's Sameh Shoukry (file photo)
Egypt's Sameh Shoukry (file photo)Photo: Žan Kolman / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Key points

  1. Om Birla met Sameh Shoukry, head of Egypt's delegation, on Sunday.
  2. They discussed Parliamentary Friendship Groups and trade in pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
  3. The forum has four high-level sessions and a meeting of foreign affairs committee chairs.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla held talks on Sunday with Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian MP leading his country’s delegation, on the eve of the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum, which opens in New Delhi on Monday.

The two spoke of the long ties between India and Egypt as two ancient civilisations, and of what Birla called renewed momentum in relations. They looked at ways to deepen cooperation between the two parliaments through Parliamentary Friendship Groups, and at closer work in pharmaceuticals, chemicals and industry.

Birla thanked Egypt for its strong condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack and said the world needed to act together against terrorism. He said he was confident that “stronger parliamentary ties will further enrich the longstanding partnership between the two countries.”

Two days of BRICS lawmakers

Birla chairs the two-day forum, and India is the host. Delegations from 11 BRICS member countries and 10 partner countries were invited. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to attend and meet the leaders of the visiting delegations.

The programme is built around four high-level sessions on resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability, aimed at reaching decisions by consensus. A separate meeting brings together the chairs of the foreign affairs committees of the member and partner parliaments to talk about parliamentary diplomacy, capacity-building and good practice.

The Egyptian meeting was one of a series of bilateral talks Birla is holding with delegation leaders on the margins of the forum. Russia’s State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin reached Delhi on Saturday, while Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has pulled out, though an Iranian delegation is still taking part.

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