Iranian Parliament Speaker and the country’s chief negotiator in talks around the West Asia crisis Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf will not attend the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum, which India will host on October 26 and 27.The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in New Delhi Saturday said Ghalibaf would be unable to attend the meeting of Speakers of Parliaments of BRICS member countries due to “certain unforeseen circumstances”.The Embassy did not elaborate the reasons for his absence but, in affirmation of commitment to participate actively in BRICS forums, it said an Iranian Parliamentary delegation will visit.The Embassy thanked the Government of India for hospitality and arrangements for hosting the meeting and exuded hope that the forum will strengthen cooperation among member nations.Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had earlier this week confirmed Ghalibaf’s attendance at the event.Ahmed Naderi, Member of Presidium of the Islamic Consultative Council of Iran will lead a three MP delegation to the forum, while Russia and UAE teams will be led by Speakers of the respective national Parliaments.Russia is sending the largest, 10-MP delegation to the forum, with Volodin Vyachalev, Chairman of theState Duma in the lead. He will be accompanied by Aleksandr Babakov, Vladislav Davankov, and Voropaeva Maria, Deputy Chairmen of the State Duma.Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the UAE Parliament will lead his country’s team and a three member Chinese delegation will be led by Jianbang Zheng, Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.Apart from the six BRICS member nations — Russia, Brazil, China, Egypt, UAE and Iran, seven BRICS partner nations have also confirmed attendance. These are Belarus, Cuba, Thailand, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Uganda and Uzbekistan.”Thirteen countries are participating, including six BRICS members, and seven BRICS partner nations. There will be four Speaker led delegations from Russia, UAE, Thailand and Uganda, three deputy speaker led delegations from China, Belarus and Cuba and six MP led delegations from Iran, Egypt, Brazil, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Discussions are also likely on raging conflicts in the world and strain and stress democracies worldwide are experiencing on account of street movements as recently seen in France and Albania,” Indian parliamentary sources said.The forum will be hosted by India at the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan under the theme “Strengthening Parliaments for People-Centric Development” with Birla delivering the lead address.Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the visiting delegations with deliberations focusing on institutional resilience, human-centric use of artificial intelligence and digital technologies, reform of global governance and sustainable development.A joint statement is expected at the conclusion of the forum.