At BRICS meet, Birla calls on parliaments to listen to youth

Parliaments have a vital responsibility to listen to young people and understand their hopes and concerns, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said at the inaugural session of the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum at the Samvidhan Sadan in New Delhi on Monday.

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Mr. Birla said the youth today have growing access to quality education and technological knowledge, along with a strong desire to innovate, excel, and contribute to society.

“The aspirations of the youth must be met with meaningful opportunities, dignity, and an enabling environment in which their talents can flourish,” he said, adding that empowering young people was not only an investment in their future but also a commitment to the collective destiny of nations.

Global instability

Referring to the current global situation, Mr. Birla said the world was passing through a period of “profound uncertainty”, marked by regional conflicts, economic instability, and climate change, whose consequences transcended national boundaries. He stressed the need for a “spirit of collective responsibility” in addressing these challenges.

“Parliaments, as vibrant expressions of the people’s will, can serve as bridges of understanding, strengthen mutual confidence, ease international tensions, and help advance peaceful and constructive responses to global challenges,” he said. Through parliamentary diplomacy, elected representatives could exchange perspectives, draw on shared experiences, identify common interests, and open new avenues of international cooperation, he added.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of transforming BRICS into an “ecosystem of solutions”, Mr. Birla said the true measure of the forum’s success would lie not in the breadth of its discussions but in the depth of its outcomes and their impact on people’s lives. He called on parliaments of member countries to work towards a shared future, ensuring that dialogue translated into action, and cooperation yielded measurable results.

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Mr. Modi interacted with parliamentary delegations from BRICS countries after the inaugural session, officials said.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and other Indian parliamentarians also met the visiting delegates from BRICS member and partner countries.

The member countries participating in the two-day forum are Brazil, Russia, China, Egypt, the UAE, and Iran. Partner countries attending the meeting include Belarus, Cuba, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.