Evaluate the role of inter-parliamentary forums in democratising multilateral groupings like BRICS.

Inter-parliamentary forums let elected legislators take part in multilateral diplomacy, alongside the governments that run summits and ministerial meetings. The BRICS Parliamentary Forum is the grouping's legislative track. India is hosting its 12th edition in New Delhi, where the PM met BRICS MPs on 26 October 2026 [1]. These forums make BRICS more legitimate, but they discuss far more than they decide.

Role in democratising BRICS: positives

• Legislative legitimacy: Parliaments of all 10 members took part at Brasília (2025). This brings elected voices into an agenda that governments otherwise set alone [2].
• Consensus on contested issues: All 10 parliaments condemned the Pahalgam attack and backed "zero tolerance" for terrorism. India's proposals on terror financing, intelligence-sharing, misuse of new technology and judicial cooperation entered the consensus text [2].
• Executive–legislature synergy: The Lok Sabha Speaker holds the Forum's chairmanship [2], and the PM engaged the delegates directly [1]. This signals that parliament has a place in foreign policy.

Limitations

• Sequencing: The 18th Summit (12–13 September 2026) [3] came about six weeks before the Forum [1]. MPs could endorse the leaders' decisions but not shape them.
• Non-binding consensus: Forum texts bind no government. Because every member must agree, the wording settles at what the least willing member will accept [2].
• Weak domestic link: Under Article 73 read with Entry 14, Union List, the government signs and ratifies treaties without a vote in Parliament. Article 253 brings Parliament in only when a new law is needed [4].
• Opacity: The official release on the PM's meeting names no issues or outcomes [1].

Verdict and way forward

• Hold the Forum before the Summit so that MPs' views can reach the leaders' declaration.
• As chair, India should check what each parliament has done on the 2025 anti-terror commitments.
• Publish the full declaration, lay it before the House and refer it to the Committee on External Affairs.

Overall, inter-parliamentary forums democratise BRICS only partly: they add voice and legitimacy but not decision-making power. Better sequencing, follow-up on commitments and scrutiny at home can turn India's 2026 chairmanship into real democratic accountability. That would carry the Constitution's idea of an accountable executive into India's multilateral diplomacy.