Maldives An Important Pillar Of Our 'Neighbourhood First' Policy: Speaker Om Birla

Om Birla reaffirmed India's ties with Maldives, describing the island nation as a key pillar of India's "Neighbourhood First" policy.

New Delhi:Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday reaffirmed India's deep-rooted ties with the Maldives, describing the island nation as not just a friendly neighbour but also a key pillar of India's "Neighbourhood First" policy. Birla made these remarks during bilateral talks with the visiting Maldivian delegation led by Abdul Raheem Abdulla, Speaker of the People's Majlis of Maldives, at Parliament House here.

"Birla highlighted the advances made by Parliament of India in its digital transformation with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance legislative efficiency. He informed the delegation that the Parliament of India now provides simultaneous interpretation services in 15 regional languages, which will soon be expanded to 22 languages," an official statement said.

Discussing capacity-building initiatives, the Speaker underscored the role of Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE) in providing training on parliamentary procedures. Birla hoped that this visit would open new avenues for collaboration between the legislative institutions of India and the Maldives.

"Speaker of Maldives appreciated the usage of technology, digitalisation work and use of AI by Parliament of India and requested the Speaker to extend technological support to help Maldives to digitise its parliamentary resources. The Speaker assured him that every possible help would be extended from Parliament of India to Maldives in this regard," the statement added.