
LS Speaker to lead Indian delegation to 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in Brazil
Agency:
PTI
Last Updated:
New Delhi, May 29 (PTI) Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will lead a parliamentary delegation to the 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum to be held in Brazil next week.
The Lok Sabha Speaker will address the forum on 'Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation for Responsible and Inclusive Artificial Intelligence' and 'BRICS Parliaments United for the Reform of the Multilateral Peace and Security Architecture'.
The BRICS Parliamentary Forum will be held from June 3-5 at Brasilia with the theme 'The Role of BRICS Parliaments in Building a More Inclusive and Sustainable, Global Governance'.
Presiding officers and members of parliament from BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran will participate in the forum meetings.
Presiding officers from invited nations — Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Nigeria, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan — along with the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Tulia Ackson, will also participate in the forum meetings.
advetisement
The Indian delegation will also participate in the proceedings during the plenary sessions on the sub-themes of 'BRICS Parliamentary Action in Search of New Paths for Economic Development '; 'Towards Stronger and More Durable BRICS Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation'; 'BRICS Inter-Parliamentary Alliance for Global Health'; and 'BRICS Inter-Parliamentary Dialogue on Climate and Sustainability'.
The delegation will comprise Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Rajya Sabha member Surendra Singh Nagar, Lok Sabha members Vijay Baghel, Vivek Thakur and Shabari Byreddy.
Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh and Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody will also be part of the delegation.
The Lok Sabha Speaker is also likely to hold bilateral meetings with the presiding officers of participating parliaments on the sidelines of this forum. PTI SKU KSS KSS
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI)
First Published:
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


News18
25 minutes ago
- News18
LeT, Jaish Tap Bangladesh Radical Networks, Use Campuses To Target Indian Students
Last Updated: Top intelligence sources reveal Bangladesh-based groups are now providing legitimate access to LeT and Jaish in universities, where they target Indian students for radicalisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed have joined hands with radical groups in Bangladesh, opening a new front to radicalise Indian youth, CNN-News18 has learnt from top intelligence sources. A recent speech by Saifullah Kasuri, aka Khalid, in Kasur, Lahore, which has gone viral and is now circulating among radical groups, referenced Bengal and the division of the region on May 28. The speech is being actively used in radical circles to fuel propaganda. Bangladesh-based groups are now providing legitimate access to LeT and Jaish in universities, where they target Indian students for radicalisation. These India-based groups are also collaborating with Jamaat-e-Islami, creating a cross-border ideological network. LeT's exploitation of Bangladeshi universities is built on three key pillars: ideological alignment with local radicals, institutional decay, and cross-border impunity. Backed by ISI, LeT operates through multi-layered strategies combining ideological networks, institutional vulnerabilities, and cross-border operational logistics. LeT coordinates with Jamaat's student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir to infiltrate campuses. Shibir grants access to student networks, hostels, and Islamic study circles, which are then used for recruitment. Following the restoration of Jamaat-e-Islami's legitimacy post-2024, this access has become more streamlined. Groups such as Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), both linked to LeT, operate madrasas near universities. These madrasas indoctrinate students with Wahhabi-Salafi ideologies, framing education as jihad for Islamic revival. UK-based front organisations have also funded radical madrasas that later recruit university students. Shibir members invite Indian students into Islamic study circles, blending religious discussions with LeT propaganda videos. Events at the University of Dhaka have glorified Kashmir terrorists killed as martyrs. LeT's attack footage from India is shared through encrypted apps such as Telegram and Signal, with videos from incidents like the Pahalgam attacks being circulated to incite anti-India sentiments. Radical groups offer scholarships, flood relief, and financial aid to economically vulnerable Indian students. Following the 2024 floods, Jamaat distributed aid along with radical literature. Senior student 'mentors" isolate Indian youth, presenting radicalisation as identity preservation, while enforcing conservative dress codes such as beards and veils to build group loyalty. LeT is also using Bangladesh as a transit hub. Indian students radicalised in Dhaka or Chittagong are sent to LeT camps in Pakistan via Myanmar or Nepal, often under the guise of educational tours. They portray India as oppressing Muslims, leveraging events like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and incidents of communal violence, such as the 2023 temple vandalism to validate jihadist narratives. The post-2024 interim government in Bangladesh lifted bans on Jamaat-e-Islami and allied groups, appointing radicals to key positions, including the Hizb-ut-Tahrir founder as Home Secretary. This has enabled LeT affiliates like Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) to operate openly on campuses. Government concessions to Hefazat-e-Islam, such as compulsory Islamic education, allow madrasas to teach jihadist ideologies unchallenged. Universities have also adopted gender-segregated curricula, normalising extremist norms. Bangladesh's lax NGO oversight, coupled with hundi remittances and money laundering—both significant contributors to its GDP—allow LeT to mask funding as charitable donations. LeT receives funds via NGOs from the Middle East, Gulf, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, under the pretext of reviving Islamic heritage and campus charities. Radicalised students returning to India are deployed as operatives. HuJI-B, JMB, and LeT proxies maintain around 40 sleeper cells in Assam and Nagaland, using Bangladesh-trained Indians to carry out attacks. LeT has also utilised Bangladeshi routes for India-bound operations. The 2025 Pahalgam attack involved a LeT operative who had met a Bangladeshi official prior to the operation. Anti-minority violence in Bangladesh — where nearly 2,200 Hindu-targeted incidents were reported in 2024 — spills over into India, intensifying Hindu-Muslim tensions and aiding in jihadist recruitment.


Mint
31 minutes ago
- Mint
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson says Pakistan airspace ban adding to flying costs
The continuing ban for Indian airlines in using Pakistani airspace is adding flying hours for non-stop flights and will weigh down Air India Ltd.'s path to profitability, its top executive said in an interview. 'The impact is significant but we have been able to sustain non-stop operations' to most destinations in North America and Europe, Air India Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson said in a Bloomberg TV interview Monday. 'It'll certainly hit our bottomline.' The airspace curbs have increased flying time for west-bound flights from India by an hour or so, according to Wilson, who declined to give details on the discussions the Tata Group-owned carrier was having with stakeholders on this front. The armed conflict between India and Pakistan that erupted May 7 was the worst between the nuclear-armed neighbors in decades, with both sides trading drone and missile strikes besides artillery and small arms fire along their shared border. It was triggered by a gruesome attack on civilians in Indian-controlled Kashmir on April 22. While a ceasefire was announced on May 10, Pakistan has extended the airspace ban for Indian airlines until June 24. Geopolitical strife has been complicating flying routes and business models for airlines globally in the past few years as they skirt conflict zones. Tariffs are also now a closely watched development for the sector. 'We want certainty. Uncertainty is difficult when you are making investment decisions,' Wilson said, adding that this was a common theme at the ongoing aviation industry event in New Delhi. So far, Air India sees no impact of tariffs on travel flows for its geography and markets. The recent showdown between the US President Donald Trump and Harvard University has added another layer of complication for international fliers especially those looking to study in American institutions. Pointing to anecdotal stories, Wilson said that there seems to be some shift in the large student population from India that usually vies to be on US campuses. 'You hear people thinking of alternatives,' he said. 'Obviously, it's a relatively new development, so people are still digesting it but it does seem that people are more willing to look at alternative locations than perhaps they were before.' Wilson, who steered the massive merger of Tata-owned carriers Air India and Vistara last year, declined to comment on media stories on the airline's discussions with plane makers to buy more narrowbody jets. Air India, the unprofitable carrier which the Tata conglomerate acquired from the Indian government in 2021, will start receiving new planes it had ordered toward the end of this year, according to Wilson. The deliveries are 'later than we hoped, slower than we hoped,' he said. 'It is constraining our ambitions a little bit in the short term but the long term opportunity for this market is massive, so we are very, very confident.' More stories like this are available on Disclaimer: This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.


Economic Times
32 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Mphasis, Persistent, and other IT stocks fall up to 6% amid renewed US-China trade tensions
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel Shares of Indian IT companies fell sharply on Monday, with some stocks losing up to 6.5%, as renewed trade tensions between the US and China spooked investors. The Nifty IT index slipped over 1% to 36,948 in morning trade, extending losses for the second straight selloff follows a social media post by US President Donald Trump last week, accusing China of violating a recent trade agreement. Trump claimed that China had "totally violated" the deal, which he said was made to prevent further economic instability in China caused by earlier tariffs.'China has totally violated its agreement with us. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!' Trump posted on his platform, Truth IT companies earn a significant portion of their revenue from the US market. Past tariff battles between the US and China have triggered fears of a US recession and rising inflation, which tend to weigh heavily on IT trade tensions had eased briefly, the latest escalation has reignited concerns, dragging IT stocks Mphasis led the fall, tumbling 6.5% to Rs 2,392, after reports that FedEx Corp. had chosen Accenture Plc to handle much of its IT work, ending a long-standing relationship with Mphasis. The client accounted for 8% of the company's revenue. Persistent Systems dropped nearly 3% to Rs 5,471. Shares of Tech Mahindra and Wipro slipped over 1%, while HCL Tech Infosys , LTI Mindtree, and Coforge traded with marginal response, China accused the US of violating the trade deal and warned of strong retaliatory measures. In a statement on June 2, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said, 'If the US insists on its own way and continues to damage China's interests, China will continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.': Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)