Lok Sabha MP Bids Farewell to Iranian Parliamentary Delegation

New Delhi, October 28: Lok Sabha Member Praveen Khandelwal bid farewell to a visiting Iranian parliamentary delegation as it returned home after attending the two-day 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum. The farewell marked the close of the delegation's engagements in India.

The Iranian Embassy in India confirmed the departure through a post on X on Wednesday. The post included a set of photographs and noted that the parliamentary delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran had left New Delhi for Tehran that morning. The embassy also noted that Praveen Khandelwal had been present to see the delegation off.

The group was headed by Dr. Ahmad Naderi, a Presidium member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran. Abbas Moghtadaei Khorasgani, who leads the Iran-India Parliamentary Friendship Group and is deputy chairperson of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, and Ali Hadadi, the group's first deputy chairperson and head of the Industry and Mines Committee, were also part of the delegation.

The delegation's composition had changed from earlier plans. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was originally set to take part, but the embassy said on October 24 that unforeseen circumstances would prevent him from attending. In his place, a parliamentary delegation from Iran joined the forum's meetings.

The forum was hosted by India at the Samvidhan Sadan within the Parliament House complex in New Delhi and ended with the adoption of a joint declaration. The two-day conference highlighted shared positions on enhancing the Global South's role in global governance, reforming the United Nations Security Council, a firm stance on terrorism, the responsible use of digital technology, and sustainable development.

In his closing remarks, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that the world's enduring challenges cannot be resolved through war and conflict and must instead be addressed through dialogue, peace, and cooperation. He cited regional conflicts, economic uncertainty, trade tensions, terrorism, and climate change as pressing global concerns. At the end of the session, he formally handed over the chairmanship of the BRICS Parliamentary Forum for 2027 to China.