Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated the 28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Commonwealth Countries (CSPOC 2026) in the Central Hall of the Constitution House located in the Parliament House complex, New Delhi. This conference is the largest ever in terms of participation. PM Modi said that India is preparing an open-source technology platform, so that partner countries of the Global South can also develop digital systems like India.
He said that the world is changing rapidly and now is the time for the Global South to forge new paths. India has always strongly raised the voice of the Global South in international forums. Even during its presidency of the G20, India kept the issues of the Global South at the center of the agenda. PM Modi said, it is our endeavor that the entire Global South and Commonwealth countries should benefit from the innovations taking place in India. For this reason we are creating an open-source platform. He said that a major objective of this conference is to show how different countries can increase their understanding and knowledge of parliamentary democracy in a better way.
PM Modi said that India has made diversity its democratic strength. Democratic institutions and processes have helped India move forward with stability, speed and scale. He said that the tradition of debate, dialogue and collective decisions in India is very old. He reminded that the CSPOC conference is being held in India for the fourth time. The theme this time is effective delivery of parliamentary democracy, which is very relevant in today's global situation. The PM also mentioned the historical importance of the Central Hall, where the Constituent Assembly meetings were held and many important decisions of the country were taken.
61 speakers and presiding officers from 42 Commonwealth countries are participating in this conference. It is being presided over by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. In the conference, issues like use of AI in Parliament, impact of social media on MPs, new ways to increase public participation, and safety and health of MPs will be discussed. Representatives of many countries like Canada, Britain, Australia, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Africa have participated in it. However, Pakistan and Bangladesh are not participating this time because there is no speaker there at present. BJP MP Anurag Thakur said that after almost one and a half decade, India has got the opportunity to host such a big conference, which is a matter of pride for the country.
