India and France advance work on building a new national museum in Delhi

Taking forward India-French cooperation on culture and global equality, a senior official of the Emmanuel Macron government visited Delhi on Monday to co-chair the Joint Working Group on Museology, which is planning to build a new national museum in the capital city. Is leading the project.

In addition to holding the discussion, Aurélien Lechevalier, Director General of Global Affairs and Cultural and Economic Diplomacy at the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, also visited the North and South Bloc sites where the new museum will be located.

As per the ‘Letter of Intent’ signed on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris in July 2023, France will be India’s partner on this project through its national agency France Museums Development (a subsidiary of Agence France Museums).

This came after the India-France joint statement issued during PM Modi’s visit to Paris in May 2022, which mentioned that both the countries were exploring the possibility of France becoming a “knowledge partner” in the construction of a national museum in Delhi and Looking for a mechanism.

“It will showcase the rich history and heritage of India over the millennia and will include the collections of both the current National Museum of India and the All India Museum,” the document said.

During his visit to Delhi, LeChevalier also participated in the Governing Council meeting of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) with Permanent Co-Chair PK Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India.

It may be recalled that France’s candidature for co-chairmanship of the CDRI was first announced during the state visit of President Emmanuel Macron to India in January 2024.

“As a multi-stakeholder alliance, CDRI has the unique opportunity to leverage international initiatives such as the Paris Agreement for People and Planet and tools such as the G20 Principles for Quality Infrastructure Investments, Fast-Infra Sustainable Infrastructure Certification and Source Has the capacity. “The platform launched by multilateral development banks to promote investment in resilient infrastructure and provide comprehensive assistance to participating countries,” LeChevalier was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the French Embassy in India on Tuesday.