The 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which is being hosted by India from July 21-31, will be held at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
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The event will be attended by over 2,500 delegates from State Parties, advisory bodies, senior diplomats, heritage experts, scholars, and researchers from 195 countries, a senior official said. State Parties are countries which have adhered to the World Heritage Convention.
Sources said the event, which is being organised by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), is likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 21.
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UNESCO has already released a provisional agenda and timetable for the meeting.
The World Heritage Committee comprises representatives from 21 States Parties to the World Heritage Convention (1972) elected by the General Assembly of UNESCO. The 45th session of the committee was held at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
The current members of the committee, after elections in the 24th General Assembly of UNESCO in November 2023, are Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Türkiye, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Zambia.
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The committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. It allocates financial assistance from the World Heritage Fund and has the final say on whether a site is inscribed on the World Heritage List.
It was established under the convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO at its 17th session on 16 November 1972. The Rules of Procedure were last revised by the World Heritage Committee at its 39th session (Bonn, 2015).
There are 42 UNESCO world heritage sites in India. Santiniketan, established by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, became the 41st site to be declared a world heritage site in India in September 2023.