12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum at Samvidhan Sadan, New Delhi (26–27 Oct) – chaired by Speaker Om Birla; 'New Delhi Declaration' adopted

28 October 2026 · English International

Topics: Defence, Energy, Industry & Parliament · 28 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)

News

Under India's BRICS chairship, the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum was held on 26–27 October 2026 in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan in the Parliament complex, New Delhi. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla chaired the Forum. Theme: 'Fostering Parliaments for People-Centric Development'. 11 member and 10 partner countries were invited. It closed with the 'New Delhi Declaration', calling for UN reform including the Security Council, zero tolerance for terrorism and fair access to artificial intelligence (AI).

Key facts

Background

• BRICS began in 2006 as a meeting of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) foreign ministers; first summit – Yekaterinburg (Russia), 2009; South Africa joined in 2010, making it BRICS. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE became full members on 1 Jan 2024, and Indonesia on 6 Jan 2025. India's 2026 chairship theme: 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability' (initials spell BRICS).
• Parliamentary Forum: a dialogue platform for BRICS parliaments; the 1st Forum was held in Moscow on 8 June 2015. India earlier chaired it in 2016 (at Geneva, on the sidelines of the 135th IPU Assembly) and in 2021; 2024 – St Petersburg (10th).
• Constitution: Article 93 – the Lok Sabha chooses a Speaker and Deputy Speaker from among its members. Article 94 – the Speaker addresses his/her resignation to the Deputy Speaker and can be removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members (14 days' notice). The Speaker presides over a joint sitting of Parliament (Article 108; Article 118(4)).
• Samvidhan Sadan: the old Parliament House – designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker; opened by Viceroy Irwin on 18 Jan 1927. The Constituent Assembly met in its Central Hall. It was named 'Samvidhan Sadan' when Parliament moved to the new building (Sept 2023).

Tamil Nadu link: M. Thambidurai (AIADMK) served twice as Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha – 1985–89 and 2014–19. The second Lok Sabha Speaker, M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar (1956–62), was from the Madras Presidency.

Source: All India Radio News (25 Oct 2026); ThePrint, Free Press Journal, UNI (22–25 Oct); APAC News (New Delhi Declaration, 27 Oct); Brazilian Chamber of Deputies site (forum history)

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