New Delhi, Oct. 26 -- Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, on Monday, appealed to BRICS parliamentarians to make the 12th Parliamentary Forum an opportunity to turn pledges into achievements, stressing that the credibility of BRICS would be judged by its concrete achievements in favour of citizens.
Launching the summit at the Samvidhan Sadan (old Parliament building), here, Birla said that effective parliamentary cooperation was needed to ensure people-oriented development, promote global peace, and resolve shared challenges. He further underlined the need to use the legislature's powers to convert political promises into deeds.
Talking about how the adoption of the Joint Statement at the BRICS summit, which is being held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an important milestone, Birla observed that the challenge is to translate the commitments into sustainable outcomes.
He said that parliamentary diplomacy can be used to overcome disagreements and build trust among nations, which would help to deal with global issues, such as conflict, economic instability, terrorism, and climate change, peacefully. He added that the aspirations of the Global South should be transferred into policies.
The theme of the two-day forum is "Strengthening Parliaments for People-Centric Development." Birla stressed the need for strong and accountable parliamentary structures and development policy that should protect the environment.
Highlighting the need for investment in youth by BRICS nations, he said that youth need to be provided with avenues to use their talent for nation building.
Referring to Modi's vision of transforming BRICS into "ecosystem of solutions," Birla said that the forum should produce tangible results rather than being restricted to deliberations only.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.