New Delhi [India]: An Indian Parliamentary delegation led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will attend the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (5WCSP) on September 7-8 and the first global Parliamentary summit on countering terrorism on September 9 in Vienna. The Lok Sabha secretariat in a press release on Saturday said that the delegation comprises Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh and Lok Sabha Secretary-General Utpal Kumar Singh. The conference is being organized jointly by the inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU), Geneva and the Parliament of Austria with the support of the United Nations, the statement added. Lok Sabha Secretariat’s Joint Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar is Secretary to the delegation. It will be the first physically attended global parliamentary event post the COVID-19 pandemic. Lok Sabha Speaker Birla will participate in the Interactive General Debate of 5WCSP during the discussions following motions. He will participate in the Panel Discussion on the theme “Parliaments and Global governance: The unfinished agenda”. Harivansh will also participate in this Panel. A high-level declaration on the overall theme of the 5WCSP “parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and planet”, highlighting the solidarity of all Parliaments of the world amidst the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic will be adopted at the end of the conference. The Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (5WCSP) is being held in the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its catastrophic impact on the people and economy of the world. The conference is envisaged to strengthen multilateralism and international cooperation to rebuild a better world ahead. On the sidelines of the events, Lok Sabha Speaker Birla will hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts of Member Parliaments of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
