A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed and exchanged on 26 October 2026 in Paris between the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) (National Library of France), under Gyan Bharatam Mission, to strengthen institutional cooperation in the preservation, digitisation, research and dissemination of manuscript and documentary heritage. The MoU was signed by Shri Vivek Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and Mr Gilles Pécout, President of BnF.

 

Shri Vivek Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and Gilles Pécout, President of Bibliothèque nationale de France

The partnership brings together the Ministry of Culture, through Gyan Bharatam, National Archives of India, New Delhi, and National Library, Kolkata, and BnF. It establishes a framework for cooperation across five key areas: Digitisation; Cross-Sharing on the National Digital Repository; Technology Exchange; Conservation; and Research & Development.

The Ministry of Culture and BnF will work to identify and digitise Indic-origin manuscripts and collections held by BnF. The MoU further provides for exchange of expertise and knowledge in areas such as digitisation and preservation technologies, cataloguing standards, OCR/HTR tools for Indian scripts, digital humanities and manuscript conservation. Joint workshops, capacity-building programmes, research initiatives, publications, exhibitions and exchanges of scholars and experts have also been envisaged under the partnership.

 

Gyan Bharatam Mission is the Ministry of Culture's flagship initiative dedicated to the identification, documentation, conservation, digitisation, translation, research and dissemination of India's manuscript heritage. Its National Digital Repository is envisaged as a secure digital repository for Indian-origin manuscripts and Indian Knowledge Systems held in India and across the world, enabling structured, permission-based access for research and study.

Bridging centuries of knowledge and heritage, the partnership marks an important step towards strengthening international cooperation for the preservation, study and wider dissemination of India’s manuscript heritage, while creating new opportunities for scholarly and technological collaboration.

          

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M Annadurai

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