India Sends Clear Message at BRICS Meet, Focuses on Heritage and Development

New Delhi: On the platform related to cultural matters of BRICS countries, while India emphasized on linking development with heritage, it also supported cultural justice, creative economy and ethical AI. This stance of India came to the fore in the meeting of ministers related to cultural matters of BRICS countries held recently in Brazil.

Here Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat put forward India's thinking in front of the BRICS countries. In his address on this occasion, Shekhawat said that under the leadership of PM Modi, India is committed to building a strong BRICS cultural ecosystem. Shekhawat emphasized on the creative economy as a strategic interface between culture, innovation and commerce and termed it important for GDP, employment and digital skill development.

Talking about advancing development and heritage

Union Minister Shekhawat further said that India's cultural vision reflects the thinking of 'Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi', in which development and heritage have been said to move forward together. During this, he emphasized the need for a strong legal framework to stop online trafficking of cultural heritage, saying that along with ethical AI protecting cultural diversity and the rights of artists, there is a need for inclusion of local and traditional knowledge in our cultural ecosystem to deal with climate change and bilateral and multilateral cooperation in museums, performing arts, literature and traditional crafts.

Bringing the artifacts back to India

Talking about mutual cooperation, the Union Minister also underlined India's success in bringing back 642 cultural artifacts between the years 2014-2024 as a benchmark for global cooperation. During this, a BRICS declaration was also released here, which discussed points such as culture, climate change and post-2030 development agenda, return and protection of cultural property and BRICS cultural festivals and alliances, with emphasis on culture, creative economy and AI. On this occasion, Shekhawat held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Brazil, South Africa and United Arab Emirates (UAE) to explore partnerships in creative economy, cultural exchange and digital innovation.