G20 ministerial meeting to release Varanasi Declaration on Saturday

Varanasi: The G20 Ministerial level meeting to release the Varanasi Declaration on Saturday on key issues like restitution of the cultural properties as well as intangible cultural properties and their usage.

Addressing a joint media conference here on Friday, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, DoNER G Kishan Reddy, and Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs, Meenakshi Lekhi shared the details of the culmination of bringing consensus on different issues related to the field of culture among the G 20 nations, invitee countries and several international organisations like UNESCO and others.

The official level sideline meetings of the cultural working group have been completed by Friday, and the issues on which the consensus would be reached among the ministers of culture of the G20 nations will form the Varanasi Declaration, Kishan Reddy said.

On Saturday, the G20 member nations, invitee countries and six international organisations working in the culture finalised the draft declaration which would go before the ministerial level meeting.

Besides, the issues about those points agreed upon and differences that cropped up due to the earlier working group meetings have been discussed and there are several issues on which consensus is expected to emerge during the minister's meeting, and it will be part of the Varanasi Declaration of the G20 of India's presidency.

Kishan Reddy said that restitution of the valuable Indian artefacts has been brought back to the country in the case of about 450 items, and it is a continuous process. India is taking up with its counterparts when it comes to the restitution of the cultural properties shipped out of the country and found in other countries.

The first working group meeting was held in Khajuraho, and the second cultural working group meeting was held in Bhubaneswar and was followed by the third meeting held at Hampi in Karnataka. Besides, all the issues that had come from deliberations in the first three meetings were on the table on Friday, in the fourth and final working group meeting, he said.

Also, it is a proud moment that Varanasi's Declaration on Culture is going out from the city that is known as the cultural capital of the country.

Meenakshi Lekhi said that understanding culture and not toleration but respective it would bring a lot of change and help in the right kind of ecosystem, even in diplomacy. Culture plays a key role in uniting people to reach a common ground.