India has been elected to the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO's 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) for the 2022-2026 cycle, the government said on Thursday.

India has served as a member of the ICH Committee twice -- from 2006 to 2010 and from 2014 to 2018.?

Union Culture and Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy, in a tweet, said, "As the nation celebrates Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, India will be a part of two prominent Committees of UNESCO -- Intangible Cultural Heritage (2022-2026) and World Heritage (2021-2025). This is yet another opportunity for India to reinstate the values of 'Vasudeva Kutumbakam'."?

According to UNESCO, the core functions of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage are to promote the objectives of the convention, provide guidance on best practices and make recommendations on measures for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage.

It also examines requests submitted by States Parties for the inscription of intangible heritage on the Lists as well as proposals for programs and projects. The committee is also in charge of granting international assistance.

In a statement, the Union Culture Ministry said against the four seats falling vacant within the Asia-Pacific group, six countries -- India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand -- had presented their candidature.?India received 110 votes from the 155 State Parties that were present and voting.

The Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention comprises 24 members and is elected in the General Assembly of the Convention according to the principles of equitable geographical representation and rotation. States Members to the Committee are elected for a term of four years.

For its 2022-2026 term, India has formulated a clear vision for the protection and promotion of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, the statement said. Some of the priority areas that India will focus upon include?fostering community participation, strengthening international cooperation through intangible heritage, promoting academic research on intangible cultural heritage, and aligning the work of the Convention with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it said.

As a member of the intergovernmental committee, India will have the opportunity to closely monitor the implementation of the 2003 Convention.? "To strengthen the scope and impact of the Convention, India seeks to mobilize the capacity of different actors worldwide to effectively safeguard intangible heritage."??read the statement.

"Also noting the imbalance in the inscriptions on the three lists of the Convention, i.e. Urgent Safeguarding List, Representative List, and Register of Good Safeguarding Practices, India shall endeavor to encourage international dialogue within the State Parties to the Convention to better showcase the diversity and importance of living heritage," the statement added.?