The 46th Session of the World Heritage Committee will be held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi from 21st July to 31st July. India is hosting this event for the first time and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the session on the 21st of this month. This ceremony will be graced by Madam Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, and other senior officers from the UNESCO World Heritage Secretariat along with other high-level dignitaries like Culture Ministers, Ambassadors, and domain experts from various countries.
Addressing a Press Conference, Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat highlighted that this is the first mega event of India under the third term of Modi government. He said this meeting will showcase India’s diverse and unique cultural and natural heritage to the world, taking India’s cultural glory to new heights. He added an international meeting of this scale will further strengthen India’s soft power in the world and provide an opportunity for global audience and outreach.
India was elected to the 21-member World Heritage Committee-WHC in the 23rd General Assembly in 2021 for a period of four years (2021-2025). This is India’s fourth term on the World Heritage Committee. India has inscribed 42 Properties in the World Heritage List which include 34 Cultural, 7 Natural, and one Mixed Heritage Site. In the last ten years, 12 Sites have been added including last year’s inscriptions of the Santiniketan (West Bengal) and Sacred ensembles of the Hoysalas (Karnataka). In addition, India has 57 Sites on the Tentative List of the World Heritage.
