To cement India’s ties with 60 major nations, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday formed 60 Parliamentary Friendship Groups, each to be led by a senior parliamentarian. The groups, cutting across party lines, will project the many dimensions of Indian democracy, according to the Lok Sabha Secretariat.Senior leaders including Ravi Shankar Prasad, M Thambidurai, P Chidambaram, Ram Gopal Yadav, T R Baalu, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Gaurav Gogoi, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Manish Tewari, Derek O’Brien, Abhishek Banerjee, Asaduddin Owaisi, Akhilesh Yadav, K C Venugopal, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Supriya Sule, Sanjay Singh, Baijayant Panda, Shashi Tharoor, Nishikant Dubey, Anurag Singh Thakur, Hema Malini,  Biplab Kumar Deb, Dr Sudhanshu Trivedi and several others will lead these groups.The Secretariat described the groups as a significant step to widen India’s inter-parliamentary engagement globally.“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 statement said.Some of the countries with which 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.The initiative aims to allow lawmakers to speak directly to their counterparts abroad, share legislative experience, and build trust through regular engagement while exchanging best practices to further strengthen bilateral relations and promote mutual understanding.Beyond parliamentary procedure, the groups are expected to facilitate conversations on trade, technology, social policy, culture, and global challenges that democracies face today.“Speaker Om Birla has consistently emphasised the role of parliamentary diplomacy in strengthening India’s global standing. Under his stewardship, Parliament has taken a more active role in international forums, projecting India not only as a political power but as a confident and mature democracy willing to engage, listen, and collaborate,” the Secretariat said.It added that by prioritising Parliament-to-Parliament and people-to-people connections, this initiative signals a more participatory approach to foreign engagement.The Friendship Groups will enable structured exchanges through dialogues, study visits, and joint discussions, helping sustain long-term cooperation rooted in democratic values. In doing so, the Indian Parliament reinforces its role as a bridge between nations and as a living reflection of the world’s largest democracy.“It is important to recall that post-Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the initiative to send multi-party delegations to various countries to convey India’s point of view. By bringing together leaders from different political parties and ideologies to represent India on the global stage, the initiative rose above partisan boundaries and underscored a powerful message: when it comes to the nation’s security and interests, India stands united,” sources said.They added that the move demonstrated faith in dialogue, inclusiveness, and collective responsibility—core strengths of India’s democracy. It showed that on matters of national interest, India speaks in one voice. The decision of the Lok Sabha Speaker to form friendship groups with more than 60 countries is an important step in this direction.While friendship groups have been constituted with more than 60 countries in the first phase, efforts are underway to establish similar groups with many more nations in the near future.Countries and group leadersIsrael: Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP); Saudi Arabia: Sudhanshu Trivedi (BJP); US: Baijayant Panda (BJP); Russia: Nishikant Dubey (BJP), Mauritius: Jagdambika Pal (BJP); EU: Anurag Thakur (BJP)France: Shashi Tharoor (Congress); Japan: Manish Tewari (Congress); Italy: P Chidambaram (Congress); Mongolia: Selja (Congress); Oman: Asadudin Owaisi (AIMIM); Algeria: Abhishek Banerjee (TMC)Australia: Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party); Portugal: K C Venugopal (Congress); Greece: K Kanimozhi (DMK); Nigeria: M Thambidurai (AIADMK); Bulgaria: Kakoli Ghosh (TMC); Armenia: Dharmendra Yadav (Samajwadi Party); Philippines: Gaurav Gogoi (Congress) and Qatar: K Suresh (Congress).