Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with the Vice President of European Parliament Nicola Beer in New Delhi today.
New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla today registered a protest against bringing a proposal on India’s “internal issues” to the European Parliament during a bilateral discussion with the Vice President of the European Parliament Nicola Beer, at the sidelines of the first-ever G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit (P20 Summit), today.
Birla underlined India’s sovereignty and protested against bringing a proposal to the European Parliament on India’s “internal issues”. He insisted that every nation and parliament is sovereign and that their internal issues should not be discussed by others.
On July 13, 2023, shortly after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Paris for an official visit, the European Parliament during its plenary session in Strasbourg adopted a resolution tabled by five political groups, asking India to take “all necessary” measures to stop the violence in Manipur and protect religious minorities, especially Christians in the troubled state. Indian external affairs ministry immediately rebutted such a move, stating that “Such interference in India’s internal affairs is unacceptable, and reflects a colonial mindset”.
Today, Beer congratulated Birla for a successful P20 Summit and emphasised on closer relations of the European Parliament with India. She also informed that Europe was going through challenging times and sought India’s cooperation. Birla invited her to watch the “festival of democracy” during the Indian general elections next year.
At the closing session of the two-day P20 Summit today, the Lok Sabha Speaker thanked the presiding officers of Parliaments of G20 nations and of invited nations for contributing to the success of the Summit on “Parliaments for One Earth, One Family and One Future”.
He said the P20 process was further strengthened by the adoption of the Joint Statement, which read, ““In view of the constructive discussions held during the Ninth P20 and experience gained at the previous P20s, we reaffirm our commitment to continue our joint work to make an effective and meaningful parliamentary contribution to the G20 process, as appreciated by the G20 Leaders”.
Birla expressed confidence that the valuable views and inputs shared during the sessions on Sustainable Development Goals, green energy, women-led development and digital public infrastructure will further strengthen the G-20 process for human-centred development.
– global bihari bureau
