India is already a member of the World Heritage committee of UNESCO for 2021-2025

India has been elected as a member of the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) for the 2022-2026 cycle.

India has previously served as a member of the ICH Committee twice - from 2006 to 2010 & from 2014 to 2018, Union Tourism and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said, tweeting about the development on Thursday.

Against the four seats falling vacant within the Asia-Pacific group, six countries, namely, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand had presented their candidature. India received 110 votes from the 155 State Parties that were present and voting, said the Ministry of Culture.

India is already a member of the World Heritage committee of UNESCO for 2021-2025.

According to the Ministry of Culture, the Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention consists of 24 members and is elected in the General Assembly of the Convention according to the principles of equitable geographical representation and rotation. States Members to the Committee are elected for a term of four years.

"Some of the core functions of the Intergovernmental Committee include promoting the objectives of the Convention, providing guidance on best practices, and making recommendations on measures for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage," the ministry said.

The Committee also examines requests submitted by States Parties for the inscription of intangible heritage on the Lists as well as proposals for programmes and projects.

For its 2022-2026 term, India has formulated a clear vision for the protection and promotion of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

The priority areas that India will focus upon include:

* Fostering community participation

* Strengthening international cooperation through intangible heritage

* Promoting academic research on intangible cultural heritage

* Aligning the work of the Convention with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

India had ratified the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in September 2005.

With 14 inscriptions on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, India also ranks high in the listing of intangible cultural heritage. After the inscription of Durga Puja in 2021, India submitted the nomination for Garba of Gujarat to be discussed in 2023, the Ministry of Culture noted.