India postpones first International Big Cat Alliance Summit in New Delhi

Key facts

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has postponed the first International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) Summit, which was originally scheduled for 1 June 2026 in New Delhi.
• The summit was being organised in conjunction with the Fourth India–Africa Forum Summit (IAFS IV), which has also been deferred following consultations with the African Union (AU) and the African Union Commission.
• A key expected outcome of the summit is the adoption of the Delhi Declaration on Big Cat Conservation, a unified global commitment to strengthen transboundary cooperation and landscape-based conservation.
• The IBCA was established by the Government of India in 2024 through the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to conserve seven species: tigers, lions, leopards, snow leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, and pumas.
• Membership of the alliance is open to all United Nations (UN) member states, including range countries harbouring these species and non-range countries interested in supporting big cat conservation.