The Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) is signed with other countries to promote and strengthen bilateral cultural relations. For implementation of the signed CEPs, various bodies of Ministry of Culture collaborate with their respective counterparts in foreign countries through diplomatic channels. The details of Cultural Exchange programme signed since January 2020 till date are at Annexure-I. The details of outcomes/ activities undertaken under CEPs by organisations of Ministry of Culture are at Annexure-II. No specific funds are allocated for CEPs. The funds, as may be required, are utilized by the organizations from their own budgetary resources.

Ministry of Culture implements “Global Engagement Scheme" to promote India's rich cultural heritage internationally and enhance India's global image.

The key Scheme objective include strengthening cultural ties with foreign nations, promoting bilateral cultural contacts, projecting India’s cultural identity on the world stage and encouraging inbound tourism.

The Global Engagement Scheme is administered through Indian Missions abroad to achieve its objective through following components:

1. Festival of India: 

The artists practicing Indian art forms, are given opportunity to perform abroad under the banner of ‘Festival of India’. The artists from diverse cultural fields such as Folk Art including Folk Music, Folk Dance, Folk Theatre & Puppetry, Classical and Traditional Dance, Experimental/Contemporary Dance, Classical/Semi Classical Music, Theatre etc. perform in the ‘Festivals of India’ abroad.

2. Grant in aid to Indo Foreign Friendship Cultural Societies:

Grant in aid is released to Indo Foreign Friendship Cultural Societies actively functioning in foreign counties through our Indian Missions with the object of fostering closer friendship and cultural contacts between India and foreign country concerned.

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), an autonomous organization under Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), promotes Indian culture worldwide through Missions / Posts and its Cultural Centres abroad. Activities conducted by them include inter-alia, teaching of Yoga, Dance, Music (vocal and instrumental), Sanskrit and Hindi; organising/supporting Conferences/ Seminars/ Workshops in different fields of Indian culture; supporting Chairs of Indian Studies in foreign universities; gifting of busts/statues of Mahatma Gandhi and other national icons, exchanging visual arts exhibitions, celebrating International Day of Yoga and Indian festivals, hosting visitors under various Visitors Programmes (Academic/ Distinguished / Important/ Gen.Next Democracy Network); and sponsoring scholarships to foreign students under different scholarship schemes. ICCR has also concluded MoUs with various State Governments to promote their culture abroad and to facilitate cultural exchanges with foreign countries. ICCR also hosts incoming foreign cultural troupes to enable Indians to discover various foreign cultures.

In addition to this, India actively engages in multilateral platforms all over the world to collaborate with other nations on a range of global issues and strengthen its position on the world stage. Since 2020 India engaged in following activities to showcase and promote Indian culture.

• During India’s BRICS Presidency Ministry of Culture hosted BRICS Culture Senior Officers’ Meeting and VI BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting virtually in July  2021;
• During India’s Presidency of Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO) Ministry of Culture hosted the Conference on Shared Buddhist Heritage of SCO Member States under India’s presidency  in March, 2023.
• Ministry of Culture hosted the 20^th SCO Culture Ministers’ Meeting under India’s presidency in  April, 2023.
• Ministry of Culture hosted the 1^st  India-Central Asia Culture Ministers Meeting (CMM) in April 2023 to enhance bilateral cultural relations;
• During India’s G20 Presidency, Ministry of Culture hosted  G20 Culture Working Group Meeting (CWG) & Culture Minister’s Meeting (CMM) in 2023 in Khajuraho, Bhubaneswar, Hampi and Varanasi;

The G20 Culture Working Group came out with an Outcome Document titled the ‘Kashi Culture Pathway’ which advocated for advancing “culture as a standalone goal" in the post-2030 development agenda. This was further unanimously  endorsed in the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration marked a historic milestone.

Various collaborative international cultural projects were undertaken by Ministry of Culture to showcase Indian culture to the participants from G20 countries- Four Global Thematic Webinars; Exhibitions - Re(ad)dress: Return of Treasures in Khajuraho; Sustain: The Craft Idiom, in Bhubaneswar; Woven Narratives, in Hampi;  G20 Art Project - Together We Art; G20 Anthology of Poetry - Under the Same Sky and Culture Unites All Campaign; G20 Orchestra- Sur Vasudha. The  Exhibitions G20 Digital Museum (Culture Corridor) and Exhibition- Routes and Roots were organized on the sidelines of G20 Leaders Summit in New Delhi.

Ministry of Culture has valid CEPs with 88 countries and CEPs with 102 countries are under negotiation. From 2024 to till date  CEPs with 12 countries have been signed.

This information was given by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

 

***

Annexure-I

 

Cultural Exchange Programme(CEP) Signed during 2020-2025 (till date 2025)

S.N	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
	Brazil 25.1.2020	Russia 02.12.2021	Greece 23.03.22	Bangladesh 05-09-2023	Jamaica 30.09.24	Indonesia 24.01.2025
		Serbia 11.10.21	Denmark 30.04.22	Belarus 09.11.2023	Kuwait 22.12.24	Bolivia 20.03.2025
		Uzkekistan 24.09.2021	Kazakhstan 13.06.22	Colombia 26.04.23	Malawi 18.10.24
			Kyrgyz Republic 11.06.22	Croatia 15.12.23	Malaysia 20.08.24
			Panama 29.04.22	Egypt 25.01.23	Nigeria 15.11.24
			Romania 01.07.22	Italy 02.11.23	Spain 28.10.24
			Senegal 01.06.22	Kenya 05.12.23	Timor-Leste 10.08.24
			Suriname 30.08.22	Mauritius 06.07.23	Ukaine 23.08.24
			Thiland 22.12.22	Oman 15.12.23	Mauritania 16.10.2024
			Turkmenistan 02.04.22	Slvak Republic 04.03.23	Guyana 20.11.2024
			Vietnam 15.12.22	Tanzania 09.10.23

 

 

 

Annexure-II

 

The details of successful CEPs conducted and their outcomes since 2020 –National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA)

 

Year	Exhibition under CEP/ MoU/Summit/ BRICS/SAARC, SCO etc.	Country	Artist
2020	Incoming under CEP	France	Artist Gerard Garouste
2022	Incoming under CEP	Brazil	Included works by Oscar Niemeyer, Athos Bulcao, Burle Marx and more
	Outgoing – Loaning of work/s of art	Italy	Two works of art of artist Mrinalini Mukherjee on loan entitled 'Devi' and 'Rudra' from NGMA collection.
2022-2023	Incoming under CEP	Sri Lanka	Exhibition on Geoffery Bawa
	Outgoing under CEP	Japan	Artist Nandalal Bose and Upendra Maharathi
	Outgoing Loaning of work/s of art	South Africa	One work of art of artist Amrita Sher-Gil on loan titled Three Girls from NGMA collection.
	Outgoing under CEP	Japan	Artist Upendra Maharathi and Hiroko Takayama.
	Incoming under CEP	Portugal	Artist Antonio Xavier Trindade
2023-2024	Outgoing under CEP	Oman	Group of 16 artists from the collection of NGMA Delhi
2024	Incoming under CEP	Belgium	Group of 55 women artists from the collection of Museum of Sacred Art, Belgium
2024	Outgoing digital exhibition	Sri Lanka	Exhibition of 40 works of art from the collection of NGMA Delhi as an immersive digital format exhibition at the Indian mission in Colombo
2024	Outgoing digital exhibition	China	Exhibition of 20 works of art from the collection of NGMA Delhi as an immersive digital format exhibition at the Indian mission in Beijing
2025	Incoming under CEP	Hungary	Exhibition of 140 archival photographs from the Ferenc Hopp Museum Budapest and 8 works of art from the NGMA Delhi collection.

 

Annexure-II

The details of successful CEPs conducted and their outcomes since 2020 –National Museum (NM)

 

Serial No.	Title of Exhibition	Gallery/Space/Venue	Exhibition Date
1.	Gita Govinda	Museum Rietberg Zurich	24th October, 2019 – 16th February, 2020
2.	From the Coromendal Coast to the Straights- Tamils in Southeast Asia and Singapore	Indian Heritage Centre, Singapore	November, 2019 – 30th September, 2020
3.	“Oman and the World Gallery"	National Museum of Oman, Muscat	17th January, 2022 – 16th April, 2022
4.	Being Jain: Art and Culture of an Indian Religion"	Museum Rietberg Museum, Zurich, Switzerland	18th November, 2022 – 30th April, 2023
5.	Body of Faith: Sculpture from the National Museum of lndia	Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel	December 2, 2022 – June 10, 2023
6.	“A Splendid Land: Royal Paintings of Udaipur" by Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF)	Venue 1-National Museum of Asian Art. Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Washington DC, USA. Venue 2 –Cleaveland Museum of Art, Ohio, USA.	November 19, 2022 – May 14, 2023
7.	Exposition of the Holy Relics of Lord Buddha. Sariputra,  And Maudgalayana	Various locations in Thailand	February 22 – March 19, 2024
8.	Hiranmaya: Gold Ornaments from Taksasila	Jewellery Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi	May 24, 2025 (on display from)
9.	Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in lndia. 200 BC - 400 A.D. (loaned antiquities)	National Museum of South Korea, Seoul	December 22, 2023 –April 14, 2024
10.	Anis al Hujjaj manuscript (loan)	National Museum of Oman	April 4 – July 31, 2024
11.	Asian Bronze (loaned antiquities)	Rijksmuseum, The Netherlands	September 2024 – January 2025
12.	Islamic Arts Biennale 2025 (loaned artworks)	Diriyah Biennale Foundation, Saudi Arabia	January 25, 2025 – May 24, 2025
13.	Living with the Gods: Arts. Beliefs and People (loaned antiquities)	Museum of Fine Arts, Houston	October 2024 – January 2025

***

Sunil Kumar Tiwari

pibculture[at]gmail[dot]com

(Release ID: 2115749) Visitor Counter : 559