India's Cultural Diplomacy Machinery
India's cultural outreach runs on two tracks. The Ministry of Culture funds it through the Global Engagement Scheme, an umbrella programme with four arms, under which India holds live Cultural Exchange Programmes with 98 countries and joins the cultural work of BIMSTEC, the SCO, the G20 and BRICS. The Indian Council for Cultural Relations, which sits under the external affairs ministry, carries the effort abroad through its Indian Cultural Centres. At home the culture ministry digitises heritage on the Indian Culture Portal, upgraded to Version 2.0 in March 2026, and pays scholarships that put schoolchildren into classical-dance training.
- Global Engagement Scheme
- ICCR
- Cultural Exchange Programme
- Indian Culture Portal
- CCRT
- Sangeet Natak Akademi
- cultural diplomacy
- Kalakshetra Foundation
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