variants of Open or Conference diplomacy. The growing relevance of Parliamentary co-operation and diplomacy has led to the creation of international as well as regional organizations where under the parliamentarians from across the globe and regions could meet and discuss matters of common concern with solutions. As a result of all these, today parliamentary diplomacy has become an institutionalized d evice available to the members of Parliament. In addition to bilateral and multilateral contacts such as parliamentary visits, seminars and workshops, etc., organizations like Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) are playing an important role in bringing parliamentarians together with a view to promoting social, economic and political development collect ively within the framework of international cooperation. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) as the international organization of Parliaments of sovereign States is the oldest multilateral political organization created in 1889. The IPU has transformed itself from an association of individual parliamentarians into the international organization of the Parliaments of sovereign States. The Group has also been accorded the Permanent Observer status to the United Nations. Promoting the concepts of peace and international arbitration, the IPU provided the origins for today’s form of institutionalized multilateral co-operation and advocated the establishment of institutions such as the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. It is a centre for dialogue and parliamentary diplomacy which brings togethe r legislators from 159 member Parliaments representing various political systems. The growing relevance of Parliamentary co-operation and diplomacy has led to the creation of international as well as regional organizations where under the parliamentarians from across the globe and regions could meet and discuss matters of common concern with solutions. As a result of all these, today parliamentary dipl omacy has become an institutionalized device available to the members of Parliament. In addition to bilateral and multilateral contacts such as parliamentary visits, seminars and workshops, etc., organizations like Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) are playing an important role in bringing parliamentarians together with a view to promoting social, ec onomic and political development collectively within the framework of international cooperation. In the ultimate analysis, Parliamentary Diplomacy facilitates Parliaments to perform their functions of law- making and overseeing the executive with a global perspective. Further, international affairs and global issues would also not be sufficiently representative of the ground political, economic and so cial realities if they are devoid of the contribution of lawmakers. In that sense, Parliaments across the world have a crucial role to perform in the age of globalization, not only because of the present time when global issues have considerable impact on our lives, but also because they represent all the societal forces in their respective countries. It is worth recalling the IPU Resolution at the 97 th Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in April 1997, which appealed to all Parliaments the world over to intensify parliamentary diplomacy in order to contribute to international and regional security and stability based on the universal principles of non-interference, equal status, territorial integrity, independence of all States and respect for human rights, as set out in the UN Charter. A TO Z INDIA ● AP RIL 2022 ● PAGE 14 Salil Saroj New Delhi Salil Saroj Parliamentary Democracy and Globalisation Parliamentary Diplomacy :