Archive

1. India and Russia are positioned as long-standing, self-reliant partners, expected to rely primarily on domestic capacity plus stable bilateral ties.

2. BRICS and the SCO are treated as practical platforms through which India–Russia cooperation can be scaled beyond the bilateral track.

1. In 1974, Bangladesh and Pakistan established diplomatic relations under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, despite discomfort among liberation supporters and war survivors, prioritising state interests, recognition, and stability.
2. From 1974 through 2025, relations persisted despite political upheavals; the Awami League governed roughly two decades, yet ties were never severed, indicating institutional continuity in Dhaka.

India will host the 20th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage from 8 to 13 December 2025 at the Red Fort in New Delhi. This is the first time the session will be held in India, and the event aligns with the twentieth anniversary of India’s ratification of the 2003 Convention. The venue, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, symbolically brings together tangible and intangible heritage.

The 2003 Convention, adopted during UNESCO’s 32nd General Conference in Paris, was established to address global concerns about the vulnerability of living cultural traditions under pressures such as globalisation, rapid social change and limited resources. The Convention recognises that communities, including indigenous groups and traditional practitioners, play the central role in preserving and transmitting intangible heritage. It seeks to safeguard practices, rituals, performing arts, festive events, craftsmanship, oral traditions and knowledge systems that shape cultural identity.