India, China in talks over joint UNESCO nominations for Xuanzang work

📌 Summary:

• India and China are in advanced talks over a joint UNESCO nomination for "The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions", an account of the 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang's (Hiuen Tsang) 19-year travels through medieval India
• The proposal is led by China and supported by India; currently under consideration with the Ministry of External Affairs for UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage / Memory of the World programmes
• India also plans joint nominations: Panchatantra (with Iran) and the philosophy of Satyagraha (with South Africa)
• Idea emerged from the second BRICS Culture Working Group meeting (Varanasi) under India's chair; recommendations go to the BRICS Cultural ministerial meeting in Bhopal (August)
• Rationale ("skip the queue"): each country may file only two dossiers per two-year UNESCO cycle, but there is no limit on joint nominations led by one country and backed by others
• Marks a shift from past rivalry — in 2017 India and China filed competing dossiers for Sowa-Rigpa (Tibetan medicine); joint nominations aim to avoid such concurrent claims

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS1 Culture + GS2 IR — heritage diplomacy, India-China cultural cooperation within BRICS, and UNESCO heritage frameworks.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang) studied at Nalanda University; his work is "The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions"
• IGNCA is India's nodal agency for UNESCO heritage nominations
• 2017: India and China filed rival dossiers for Sowa-Rigpa (Tibetan system of medicine)

🔑 Key Term: UNESCO Memory of the World — programme to safeguard documentary heritage of universal value against loss and neglect.