Gaurav Gogoi appointed as chairperson of India–Philippines Parliamentary Friendship Group

Assam Congress President and Jorhat MP Gaurav Gogoi has been appointed as Chairperson of India–Philippines Parliamentary Friendship Group. The group has been formed to promote cooperation, mutual understanding and institutional collaboration between India and the Philippines.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has constituted multiple Parliamentary Friendship Groups comprising members of the 18th Lok Sabha. The initiative is designed to strengthen diplomatic engagement and foster closer ties with countries across the world through structured legislative dialogue.

The Parliamentary Friendship Groups serve as an important platform for lawmakers to engage with their counterparts abroad, facilitating exchanges on governance, trade, security, culture and regional cooperation. Such mechanisms are increasingly viewed as vital instruments of soft diplomacy, complementing formal executive-level engagements.

The India–Philippines Parliamentary Friendship Group is expected to play a constructive role in strengthening bilateral ties at a time when both nations are looking to expand cooperation in areas such as maritime security, defence, trade, education and people-to-people exchanges. India and the Philippines have steadily enhanced engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, with growing strategic convergence.

 

By appointing Gaurav Gogoi to lead the group, the Lok Sabha leadership has entrusted him with steering legislative dialogue and fostering closer engagement with Philippine parliamentarians. 

The constitution of these friendship groups signals a renewed push by the 18th Lok Sabha to leverage legislative channels in advancing India’s global partnerships, reinforcing its diplomatic footprint through sustained parliamentary engagement.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has constituted Parliamentary Friendship Groups with 64 countries and handed the leadership of over a dozen of them to senior Opposition leaders, including several prominent faces from the INDIA bloc. The decision comes amid sharp political contestation at home, underscoring Parliament’s collective role in shaping India’s global engagement.

Each Parliamentary Friendship Group will comprise 11 members, including representatives from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, reflecting an attempt to ensure cross-party and bicameral participation in India’s international legislative outreach.

Among those appointed to chair key groups are Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor for France, P Chidambaram for Italy, K C Venugopal for Portugal, Manish Tewari for Australia, and Gaurav Gogoi for the Philippines. From the DMK, K Kanimozhi will head the Greece group.

The Trinamool Congress has been given charge of two groups, with Derek O’Brien appointed for Chile and Abhishek Banerjee for Algeria. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant will chair the Morocco group, while NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule will head the Singapore panel.

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has been appointed to lead the Oman group. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will chair the Japan group, while his party colleague Ram Gopal Yadav will head the Egypt group. AAP’s Sanjay Singh has been assigned the Caribbean countries group, and RSP leader N K Premachandran will lead the Madagascar group.

In a notable inclusion, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been appointed as a member of the Japan Friendship Group, which is being led by Akhilesh Yadav. The composition of the groups also features several Opposition MPs who were suspended during the first phase of the Budget Session, indicating that disciplinary action in the House has not precluded participation in parliamentary diplomacy.

Among the suspended Congress MPs, Manickam Tagore has been named to the Indonesia group, Gurjeet Singh Aujla to Italy, Hibi Eden to Singapore, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring to the UK, Prashant Padole to Trinidad and Tobago, Dean Kuriakose to Saudi Arabia, and C Kiran Kumar Reddy to South Korea. CPI(M) MP S Venkatesan has been included in the group for Cuba.