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External Affairs Standing Committee seeks public technology strategy document

By CAShorts DeskPublished Updated Sources: Committee on External Affairs, 17th Report (Lok Sabha Secretariat, sansad.in); Hindustan Times

External Affairs Standing Committee seeks public technology strategy document
Illustration (AI-generated)

The Departmentally Related Standing Committee on External Affairs, in its 17th Report presented to the Lok Sabha Speaker on September 25, 2026, recommended that the Ministry of External Affairs prepare a public Technology Vision and Strategy Document. It also recommended an inter-ministerial coordination mechanism on technology diplomacy chaired by the Ministry. The report's 51 recommendations are advisory.

Syllabus: Prelims · Polity & Governance; GS2 · Parliament & State Legislatures; GS2 · Government Policies

Why it matters

A diplomat negotiating a chip-supply pact, an official framing rules for artificial intelligence and a space scientist planning a joint mission each work under a different ministry, and India has no single written plan that tells them what the country wants from technology abroad. The Committee's recommendation is to write that plan down and publish it, so that industry, researchers and partner countries can read India's priorities. The report also shows how Parliament checks the executive between sessions: a small all-party committee questions officials, records their replies and puts its findings on paper. The Government need not accept them, but it has to answer each one, and that answer is public.

Prelims pointers

  • Departmentally Related Standing Committees: first set up in 1993 with 17 committees; raised to 24 in 2004.
  • Composition: 31 members each, 21 nominated by the Speaker from the Lok Sabha and 10 by the Chairman from the Rajya Sabha; term of one year.
  • A Minister cannot be a member of a DRSC; a member appointed Minister ceases to be on the committee.
  • Servicing: 16 DRSCs work under the Lok Sabha Secretariat and 8 under the Rajya Sabha Secretariat; External Affairs is among the 16.
  • Functions: Demands for Grants, Bills referred by the Speaker or the Chairman, annual reports and long-term policy documents; not day-to-day administration, and no cut motions.
  • Status of reports: under the Lok Sabha's Rules of Procedure a DRSC report has persuasive value and is treated as considered advice.
  • Follow-up: the ministry sends action-taken replies, normally within three months, and the Committee presents an Action Taken Report on them.
  • Pax Silica: a US-led initiative launched in December 2025 on supply chains for silicon and critical minerals; the report records that India signed its Declaration.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Departmentally Related Standing Committees of Parliament, consider the following statements:

1. Each Committee has 31 members, 21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.

2. A Minister is not eligible to be nominated as a member of any of these Committees.

3. Their members are elected by each House through proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

1 is correct: each Departmentally Related Standing Committee has 31 members, 21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. 2 is correct: a Minister cannot be nominated, and a member who becomes a Minister leaves the Committee. 3 is incorrect: members are nominated by the Speaker and the Chairman, not elected; election by single transferable vote is used for the financial committees.

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