New Delhi, July 21 (HS). Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced a grant of one million dollars to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to protect and preserve heritage sites in the Global South.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi this evening. On this occasion, the Prime Minister addressed the gathering. UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay also attended the inaugural ceremony. India is hosting the meeting of the World Heritage Committee for the first time. This meeting will be held from 21 to 31 July.
While addressing the event, the Prime Minister announced a grant to UNESCO. He said that India will contribute $1 million to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. This grant will be used for capacity building, technical assistance and conservation of world heritage sites. The grant will be used especially for countries of the Global South.
In his address, the Prime Minister called upon the world to connect with each other to carry forward each other's heritage, expand the spirit of human welfare, increase tourism while preserving our heritage and create more employment opportunities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while highlighting the respect being given to heritage along with development in the modern era, said that India's vision is – development as well as heritage. He said that in the last 10 years, India has touched new dimensions of modern development on one hand and has also taken a pledge to be proud of its heritage. We have taken unprecedented steps for the conservation of heritage.
He said that the history of India and Indian civilization are much more ancient and extensive than the general understanding of history. India is so ancient that every point of the present here tells the story of some glorious past. The heritage of India is not only a history, the heritage of India is also a science. The heritage of India also reflects a glorious journey of excellent engineering.
During this, the Prime Minister praised the proposal to include the historic Moidam of Northeast in the UNESCO World Heritage List. He said that this will be the 43rd World Heritage Site of India and the first heritage of Northeast India, which has been given the status of cultural World Heritage.
Over the years, we have brought back more than 350 ancient heritages of India. The return of ancient heritages shows global generosity and respect for history.
It is noteworthy that the World Heritage Committee meets once a year and is responsible for managing all matters related to World Heritage and deciding on the sites to be included in the World Heritage List. During this meeting, proposals for nominating new sites in the World Heritage List, the status of conservation reports of 124 existing World Heritage properties, international assistance and use of World Heritage funds, etc. will be discussed. More than 2000 international and national representatives from more than 150 countries are participating in this meeting.
Various exhibitions have also been set up in Bharat Mandapam to showcase the culture of India. The Prime Minister visited them before his address.
