India to Host 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum on 26-27 October

The Parliament of India will host the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan on 26 and 27 October 2026. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced the programme at a press conference in Parliament House on 22 October 2026 and called the conference a new chapter in the history of India's parliamentary diplomacy. The forum is being held under India's chairship of BRICS, and the inaugural session is on 26 October, with the conference closing on 27 October.

The theme

Deliberations will turn on the overarching theme 'Strengthening Parliaments for People-Centric Development'. The programme is built around four high-level sessions:

• Resilience - the part parliaments play in strengthening institutions to secure a better future.
• Innovation - promoting human-centred innovation in artificial intelligence and digital technologies through parliaments.
• Cooperation - making the system of global governance more representative through parliamentary cooperation.
• Sustainability - the role of parliaments in ensuring a sustainable and inclusive future.

Who is coming

Presiding Officers and parliamentary leaders of BRICS member and partner countries will attend, along with Union Ministers, the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Harivansh, Presiding Officers of State Legislatures, Members of Parliament and other guests. Delegations from 11 member countries and 10 partner countries of the grouping are expected. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the event and meet the leaders of the visiting delegations, and the Vice-President of India will host a banquet in their honour.

Meetings on the margins

A meeting of the Secretaries of the delegations is scheduled for 25 October 2026 to finalise the Joint Statement of the forum. A special meeting of the Chairpersons of the International Affairs Committees of the parliaments of BRICS member and partner countries will take place as well, to discuss parliamentary diplomacy, capacity building and the exchange of best practices. Bilateral and multilateral interactions with the leaders of visiting delegations and with parliamentary friendship groups are also planned, alongside the plenary sessions and parallel meetings.

Why it matters

The Speaker placed the forum in line with the BRICS Summit held in September 2026 under the Prime Minister's leadership, in which all member countries took part. The parliamentary forum, he said, carries that work forward by strengthening cooperation between legislatures and by widening dialogue on shared global challenges. He expressed confidence that the conference would help strengthen democratic traditions, improve accountability to the public, build consensus through dialogue and encourage the use of technology in parliamentary institutions. Members of the delegations will visit the Parliament of India and take part in cultural visits in Delhi, and a cultural programme has been arranged.