Rwanda and India have signed a five-year Cultural Exchange Programme (2026–2030), reinforcing growing diplomatic and strategic ties between the two nations.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in New Delhi by Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe, and India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh, according to a statement released on March 3, 2026, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MINAFET).
The agreement is designed to promote structured cultural and knowledge exchange, strengthening cooperation in heritage, arts, and broader people-to-people engagement.
Beyond the signing ceremony, the two ministers held high-level bilateral talks reviewing progress in existing partnerships and identifying new opportunities for collaboration. Key sectors discussed included security, agriculture, trade and investment, health, education, science and technology, digital innovation, and cultural cooperation.
Amb. Nduhungirehe is in India for strategic engagements aimed at expanding bilateral cooperation. The March 2–3 meetings assessed milestones achieved and explored pathways to scale up collaboration in priority sectors.
Rwanda and India share longstanding diplomatic relations that gained renewed momentum in 2018 during the landmark visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Rwanda — the first-ever visit by an Indian head of government.
That visit resulted in multiple cooperation agreements spanning defence, trade, dairy value chain development, leather production, agriculture, and cultural exchange — frameworks that continue to shape the evolving Rwanda–India partnership.
The newly signed Cultural Exchange Programme signals Kigali and New Delhi’s commitment to translating diplomatic goodwill into sustained institutional and cultural cooperation over the next five years.
