New Delhi, March 29 (IANS): Two Indian parliamentarians have been elected to the standing committees of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) for the first time, an official said here on Sunday.

The elections took place during the 132nd assembly of IPU being held in Hanoi, Vietnam, the release said.

The Indian delegation, led by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, attended the meeting of the Asia-Pacific geo-political group of IPU of which India is a member.

During the meeting, the speaker proposed candidatures of Lok Sabha members Raj Kumar Singh on the bureau of the first standing committee of IPU on peace and international security and Nagendra Singh on the bureau of the second standing committee of IPU on sustainable development, finance and trade.

Both the BJP MPs were elected unanimously.

They will serve for a period of four years up to 2018 and will be contributing in shaping the agenda and functioning of the committees.

This is for the first time, during India's participation in the IPU statutory assemblies, that two of its nominees have been elected unopposed.