Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has reconstituted the Committee on External Affairs with effect from September 26, 2026, and appointed Congress MP Dr. Shashi Tharoor as its Chairperson.
The official notification issued by the Committee Branch lists 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. Dr. Tharoor, a sitting Lok Sabha member and former diplomat, will head the panel that examines matters related to India’s foreign policy, external relations, and related subjects referred to it by the House or the Speaker.
Among the Lok Sabha members named in the reconstitution are Smt. DK Aruna, Shri Vijay Baghel, Shri Abhishek Banerjee, Shri Arun Govil, Shri Deepender Singh Hooda, Shri Naveen Jindal, Shri Subbarayan K., Shri K. Navas Kani, Shri Balya Mama Suresh Gopinath Mhatre, Shri Brijendra Singh Ola, Shri Asaduddin Owaisi, Dr. Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy, Shri Miteshbhai Rameshbhai Patel, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Shri YS Avinash Reddy, Smt. Aparajita Sarangi, Shri Pushpendra Saroj, Ms. Praniti Sushilkumar Shinde, Ms. Bansuri Swaraj, and Dr. Shashi Tharoor, with one seat listed as vacant.
Rajya Sabha members include Dr. John Brittas, Shri Raghav Chadha, Smt. Sagarika Ghose, Dr. K. Laxman, Shri Satnam Singh Sandhu, Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Shri Rajeev Shukla, Shri Rajesh Parmanand Shukla, Shri Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh, and Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
The reconstitution was publicly reported by DD News, the public broadcaster under Prasar Bharati, which shared the official list of members along with the announcement of Tharoor’s appointment as Chairperson.
Parliamentary committees such as the one on External Affairs play a key role in detailed scrutiny of government policies and reports that cannot be taken up fully on the floor of the House. Tharoor’s appointment places an opposition member with extensive experience in international affairs at the helm of the panel.