India to Host Second BRICS Culture Working Group Meeting in Varanasi on June 4-5, 2026

📌 Summary:

• India will host the 2nd BRICS Culture Working Group (CWG) Meeting at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on 4–5 June 2026, under India's BRICS 2026 Chairship
• India's BRICS 2026 theme: "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability"
• Three priority areas of deliberation: (1) Creative Economy, Cultural & Creative Industries, Copyright and Artificial Intelligence (2) Cultural Heritage Protection and Return of Cultural Property (3) Culture, Climate and Sustainable Development
• India's BRICS Culture track schedule: 1st CWG (29–30 Apr 2026, virtual) → 2nd CWG Varanasi (4–5 June) → 3rd CWG Bhopal (5–6 Aug) → BRICS Cultural Festival (Bhopal, 6–7 Aug) → BRICS Culture Ministers' Meeting Bhopal (7–8 Aug) → BRICS Theatre Festival New Delhi (12–14 Oct)
• India had earlier hosted BRICS Culture Ministers' meetings in Goa 2016 and New Delhi 2021
• Working Group mandate flows from the 2015 BRICS Cultural Cooperation Agreement

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 IR — India's leadership in BRICS multilateralism; cultural diplomacy; AI & copyright in creative industries; heritage restitution as foreign-policy lever

📝 Prelims Facts:

• BRICS full members (11): Brasil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Indonesia (Indonesia joined Jan 2025)
• 10 BRICS Partner Countries added in 2025
• BRICS Culture cooperation framework signed 2015
• India's BRICS Chairship year: 2026
• Past India-hosted BRICS Culture Ministers' meets: Goa 2016, New Delhi 2021
• Varanasi = Prime Minister's parliamentary constituency; UNESCO Creative City of Music (2015)
• Three BRICS pillars: political-security, economic-financial, cultural-people-to-people

🔑 Key Term: BRICS Culture Working Group — a structured forum under BRICS that frames cooperation on heritage protection, creative industries, films, museums, archives and digital cultural ecosystems among member states.