New Delhi; 12 October : On the sidelines of inauguration of Parliamentary Forum for “LiFE: Lifestyle for Environment”, ahead of P20 Summit in New Delhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Shri Om Birla met Hon’ Milton Dick, Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives of Australia ; H.E Ms. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury,Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh; H.E. Mr. Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council, UAE and H.E. Dr. Ashebir Woldegiorgis Gayo, Acting President, Pan Africa.
Bilateral with Australia
Shri Birla expressed gratitude to Australia for supporting India’s priorities and initiatives during G20 Summit. He also praised Australia for supporting India’s initiative for inclusion of African Union in G20. Shri Birla also noted that recent visits by Prime Ministers of both countries have given a new dimension to bilateral relations between India and Australia and mutual cooperation has further deepened and infused new energy. He urged that both Parliaments should widen the scope of parliamentary cooperation.
Hon’ Milton Dick, Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives of Australia recalled how Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was welcomed during his visit to which speaks of his tremendous fan following across Australia. Australia and India relationships are at all time high due to the personal bonhomie of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, he added. About one million Indians living in Australia act as a human bridge between the two nations. They have a significant impact on Australian politics, noted Mr. Dick.
Bilateral with Bangladesh
In his meeting with H.E Ms. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh Shri Birla emphasised that India and Bangladesh should further increase cooperation between Parliaments. He expressed satisfaction at increasing connectivity across road, rail, air, waterways and digital sectors between the two countries.
H.E Ms. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury thanked Shri Birla for inviting her to the P-20 Summit and congratulated Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for hosting a very successful G-20 Summit. P-20 is an excellent platform, allowing Presiding Officers to discuss the important agendas of G-20, she noted. She also congratulated Prime Minister Shri Modi for launching the very innovative LiFE Campaign. This LiFE Mission should reach the grass root levels and every person on the planet should contribute in Mission LiFE to make it a grand success, she highlighted. She also congratulated Shri Birla for the New Parliament Building. She urged that both the Parliaments can collaborate to find some solutions to climate change, connectivity, energy and other related issues. She also invited Shri Birla to visit the Parliament of Bangladesh.
Bilateral with UAE
In his meeting with Mr. Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council, UAE, Shri Birla noted that initiatives like ‘Biofuel Alliance’ and ‘India Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor’ have brought India and UAE closer.
Mr. Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council, UAE mentioning that India share diverse relations in the field of Education, Climate Change, Economy, Industry &Advance Technology, Foreign Trade, Energy among others, expressed hope that these relations will attain new heights in the future. These Parliamentary exchanges will provide more strength to the bilateral relations, he added. India is an important place in the world, with a significant influence and no one can ignore it, highlighted Mr. Saqr Ghobash.
Bilateral with Pan Africa
During his meeting with H.E. Dr. Ashebir Woldegiorgis Gayo, Acting President, Pan Africa, Shri Birla congratulated him for inclusion of African Union in G20.
H.E. Dr. Ashebir Woldegiorgis Gayo mentioned that India is a great friend of Africa. He noted that Africa was the first continent impacted due to the Russia-Ukraine war and fertilizer export to Africa from Russia was halted due to war which adversely affected millions of Africans. He requested India to mediate between Russian and Ukraine and help in bringing peace. This will be of great help to Africa as our children are suffering because of this war, he added. He also invited Shri Birla to visit Pan-Africa Parliament. He expressed his desire to learn from India, especially in the field of election observation to from the best practices of our democratic values. He proposed for a Pan Africa- India Parliament Summit, where in they can learn about the rich democratic heritage and practices of India.
The dignitaries discussed several other important issues and explored opportunities for further collaboration between the two Parliaments.
