Months after India deployed multi-party delegations to carry its message to the world after Operation Sindoor, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday formalised the exchange mechanism with 64 countries by appointing parliamentary ‘friendship groups’ for each.Thirty groups would be headed by the BJP leaders, and 28 by parliamentarians from the Opposition, including 10 by Congress MPs. In the Congress, Shashi Tharoor will chair the group on France, Manish Tewari on Japan, P Chidambaram on Italy and Kumari Selja on Mongolia.Asadudin Owaisi of the AIMIM will chair the group on Oman, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee Algeria, DMK’s K Kanomozhi Greece, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav on Australia, and NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule on Singapore.Senior BJP leaders roped in for the project are — Ravi Shankar Prasad on Israel; Sudhanshu Trivedi on Saudi Arabia; Baijayant Panda on the US; Nishikant Dubey on Russia; Jagdambika Pal on the Mauritius; and Anurag Thakur on the EU.However, Leaders of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi (Lok Sabha) and Mallikarjun Kharge (Rajya Sabha), are not in the list. Lok Sabha Secretariat sources said conventionally LoPs holding statutory positions are not named in such groups. They added that the move to form groups cutting across party lines, as in the case of post Operation Sindoor exercise, demonstrated faith in dialogue, inclusiveness, and collective responsibility.The Secretariat said these friendship groups would enable structured exchanges through dialogues, study visits, and joint discussions, helping to sustain long-term cooperation rooted in democratic values. Notably, China and Pakistan do not feature in the first edition of parliamentary groups although most of the countries in India’s neighbourhood do.Countries with which Parliamentary Friendship Groups have been constituted include Sri Lanka, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, South Africa, Bhutan, Saudi, 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 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. 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,” statement from the Lok Sabha said.It is important to recall that Post – Operation Sindoor, the 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 adding that the move will help cement India’s ties with 64 nations.They said these groups cutting across party lines will also project the many dimensions of Indian democracy. The Secretariat described the move as a significant step to widen India’s inter- parliamentary engagement with the world with similar groups expected with other countries.