Ahead of the global big cat summit in June, the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), headquartered in New Delhi, is deliberating on a New Delhi Declaration, which, if adopted, will be the first international declaration on big cat conservation, The Indian Express has learned. The IBCA secretariat, working alongside the Ministry of External Affairs, has shared a draft of the declaration text with IBCA member countries as well as range countries, two people aware of the matter said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to participate in the summit meeting with heads of states and governments from some of the member countries, people aware of the matter said.

It is at this summit meeting, likely to be held on June 1, that the political declaration is expected to be placed for adoption. The global big cat summit will be held close on the heels of the Fourth India-Africa Forum Summit on May 31. IBCA currently has 24 member countries, of which 10 are African nations.

Kazakhstan, Namibia and Thailand have been granted observer status. The declaration, it is learned, will include promotion of landscape-level and transboundary habitat connectivity, strengthening cooperation on wildlife crime prevention, mobilisation of finance, and advancing of One Health approach, linking wildlife, livestock and human health, among other things.