G-20 nations are expected to achieve a consensus on cultural issues like restitution of artefacts and sharing of ‘intangible heritage’ at the Culture Ministers’ Meeting scheduled on Saturday.
The ‘Varanasi Declaration on Culture’ which will be issued after the meeting of Culture Ministers of G-20 countries and nine guest nations is likely to be passed unanimously, Union Culture Secretary Govind Mohan said on Friday.
“The previous three meetings have been held at the official level. This is a ministerial-level meeting. The zero draft which we had begun had 60-70 areas of disagreements and in the final draft we have managed to iron out all of them,” Mr. Mohan told the media here.
The first two Culture Working Group meetings were held in Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh) and Bhubaneswar (Odisha) while the third was held in Hampi (Karnataka).
The Culture Secretary said that some big decisions regarding restitution of artefacts and ‘intangible heritage’ will be announced on Saturday. “All cultural issues will be passed unanimously. This will take consensus to a whole different level,” he added.
The term ‘intangible heritage’ refers to non-physical intellectual wealth, such as folklore, customs, beliefs, knowledge, language, etc..
He said that many countries had different views on different issues and a consensus has been achieved on all aspects at the official level. “We have managed to achieve a consensus at the official level and we hope that at the ministerial level also there will be similar consensus”.
The meeting on Saturday here would be attended by Culture Ministers of G-20 member countries, besides nine guest countries and six international organisations including the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), and the International Labour Organisation.
Various meetings have been taking place on the sidelines since August 24 in Varanasi which includes bilateral meetings with some countries like the U.S. and Brazil. The final draft of the declaration will be adopted in the Ministers’ Meeting.
Union Culture Minister G. Kishen Reddy said that the Varanasi culture meetings will be an opportunity to discuss multi-dimensional global challenges related to the cultural sector.
At the G-20 Leaders’ meet in September, India aspires to adopt outcomes by consensus that places culture at the heart of policymaking, leveraging its interplay with other key policy areas such as trade, tourism, and digital sectors, said an official statement.
Also on Saturday, an orchestra performance called ‘Sur Vasudha’ comprising of artistes from the G-20 countries and guest nations would be staged.
Varanasi is also a UNCESCO ‘City of Music’.
The first such orchestra performance was held in the last G-20 meeting in Indonesia and the tradition would continue here.
