Lok Sabha sets up 64 Parliamentary Friendship Groups; Nishikant Dubey, Shashi Tharoor, Abhishek Banerjee among others named as group leaders

New Delhi [India], February 24 (ANI): Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday announced that Parliamentary Friendship Groups have been constituted with more than 60 countries to enhance India's legislative engagement with the world following the success of multi party delegation on Operation Sindoor.
In a post on X, Rijiju said the move follows the success of "Operation Sindoor" and a proposal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to strengthen parliamentary diplomacy. He added that the groups have now been formally constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
"Following the success of #OperationSindoor, Hon'ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji had proposed the formation of Parliamentary Friendship Groups to enhance engagement between India & other nations. Hon'ble Speaker Shri @ombirlakota ji has now constituted these groups with more than 60 countries, strengthening global democratic ties," Rijiju wrote.

Following the success of #OperationSindoor, Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji had proposed the formation of Parliamentary Friendship Groups to enhance engagement between India & other nations.
Hon’ble Speaker Shri @ombirlakota ji has now constituted these groups with more than 60… pic.twitter.com/NgAdfyOMwL

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 24, 2026

Under the 18th Lok Sabha, the Parliamentary Friendship Groups (PFGs) constituted by the Lok Sabha bring together Members of Parliament across party lines, with each country assigned a designated Group Leader along with members from both Houses.
For Sri Lanka, the Group Leader is D Purandeswari (BJP), while Kazakhstan is led by Poonamben Hemantbhai Maadam (BJP). The Germany group is headed by Sanjay Kumar Jha (JDU), and New Zealand by Samik Bhattacharya (BJP). Switzerland group is led by Rajiv Pratap Rudy (BJP), Argentina by Ashokrao Chavan (INC), and South Africa by Hema Malini (BJP). The Bhutan group is headed by Biplab Kumar Deb (BJP), India-CARICOM by Manoj Tiwari (BJP), and Fiji by K Sudhakar (BJP).
Among West Asian and major global partners, Saudi Arabia is led by Sudhanshu Trivedi (BJP), Israel by Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJP), Trinidad & Tobago by Vivek Thakur (BJP), and Maldives by Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu (TDP). The United States of America group is headed by Baijayant Panda (BJP), Kuwait by Konda Vishweshwar Reddy (BJP), Thailand by Dilip Saikia (BJP), and Russia by Nishikant Dubey (BJP). Mauritius is led by Jagdambika Pal (BJP), while Ethiopia is headed by Mahesh Sharma (BJP).
For Europe, the European Union Parliament (Brussels) group is led by Anurag Singh Thakur (BJP), Uzbekistan by Ganesh Singh (BJP), Czech Republic by Arun Singh (BJP), Nordic countries by Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), and South Korea by Parshottam Rupala (BJP). Nigeria is led by M. Thambidurai (AIADMK), Poland by Surendra Singh Nagar (BJP), Bulgaria by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (AITC), Nepal by Neeraj Shekhar (BJP), and the United Kingdom by Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP).
In another set of appointments, Armenia is led by Dharmendra Yadav (SP), Philippines by Gaurav Gogoi (INC), Austria by Rajeev Shukla (INC), Qatar by Kodikunnil Suresh (INC), Ireland by Mukul Wasnik (INC), France by Shashi Tharoor (INC), Japan by Akhilesh Yadav (SP), and Italy by P Chidambaram (INC). Madagascar is headed by NK Premachandran (RSP), while Mongolia is led by Kumari Selja (INC).
From Africa and the Indo-Pacific, Algeria is led by Abhishek Banerjee (AITC), Oman by Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM), Australia by Manish Tewari (INC), Portugal by KC Venugopal (INC), and Georgia by Sasmit Patra (BJD). Tanzania is headed by Aparajita Sarangi (BJP), Egypt by Prof Ram Gopal Yadav (SP), Malaysia by TR Baalu (DMK), Greece by Kanimozhi Karunanidhi (DMK), and Cuba by Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy (TDP).
In the final set, Suriname is led by Sanjay Singh (AAP), Morocco by Arvind Ganpat Sawant (Shiv Sena-UBT), Singapore by Supriya Sule (NCP-SP), Indonesia by Shrikant Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena), and the Baltic States by PV Midhun Reddy (YSRCP). Brazil is headed by Praful Patel (NCP), Kenya by Prem Chand Gupta (RJD), Chile by Derek O'Brien (AITC), Bahrain by Tiruchi Siva (DMK), and Ukraine by Arvind Dharmapuri (BJP).
Finally, Vietnam is led by Vishnu Dayal Ram (BJP), Mexico by Pramod Tiwari (INC), Iran by Devesh Chandra Thakur (JDU), and the United Arab Emirates by Sanjay Jaiswal (BJP). (ANI)