“The interaction highlighted the close and longstanding parliamentary ties between India and South Africa.”

The Rajya Sabha delegation arrived in Cape Town on Monday to attend the 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, being held from September 13-19, 2026, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The conference is hosted by the Parliament of South Africa and the CPA South Africa branch under the overarching theme, “Strengthening International Law and Parliamentary Democracy in a Changing World Order: Commonwealth Leadership.”

The gathering has brought together Speakers, Presiding Officers, Parliamentarians and parliamentary officials from across the Commonwealth to deliberate on contemporary challenges confronting democratic legislatures and consider ways to strengthen parliamentary democracy and international cooperation.

For India, the conference has provided an opportunity to engage with parliamentary leaders from across the Commonwealth while reinforcing established legislative relationships with partner countries. The meetings with Hon. Jagdeo Singh and Ms Mtshweni-Tsipane placed bilateral parliamentary cooperation alongside the broader Commonwealth discussion on democratic institutions and international law.

The Cape Town engagements also underline the breadth of parliamentary diplomacy, extending beyond formal conference proceedings to bilateral conversations between legislators. With India represented by a Rajya Sabha delegation led by its Deputy Chairman, the interactions with the Speakers and presiding officers of partner legislatures have added a bilateral dimension to the Commonwealth gathering.

The conference’s overarching focus on international law and parliamentary democracy comes at a time when legislatures across the Commonwealth are examining how parliamentary institutions can respond to contemporary challenges while strengthening democratic processes and international cooperation. Against that backdrop, India’s discussions with South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago have centred on maintaining and expanding institutional parliamentary exchanges.

The engagements therefore brought together three strands of the Cape Town programme: India’s participation in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, its longstanding parliamentary relationship with South Africa, and its continuing legislative engagement with Trinidad and Tobago. Together, the meetings reflected the role of parliamentary diplomacy in sustaining dialogue and institutional cooperation across the Commonwealth.