WAVES summit: Jaishankar, Vaishnav to meet heads of missions in India next week

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will meet heads of missions in India next week to brief them about WAVES (World Audio Visual & Entertainment) Summit in Mumbai, which aims to connect India's media and entertainment industry with the global market.

The summit, which will be held between May 1 and 4, will have a  'Global Media Dialogue' and culminate with a 'WAVES Declaration 2025'.

The government is designing it as an equivalent to WEF in Davos and wants it to be the last word on the media and entertainment (M&E) sector.

Sources said invites have been extended to ministers across the world dealing with the M&E sector for the summit. The two senior ministers will brief the Heads of Missions of around 140 countries on March 13, they said.

They said WAVES Summit is designed as a premier global event aimed at bringing together the M&E sector. "It aims to connect India's M&E industry with the global market and the global M&E industry with the Indian market, fostering growth, collaborations, and innovations. WAVES aims to become a global convergence summit for the media and entertainment industry," a senior official said.

The government expects that the summit would catalyze the growth of the global M&E sector, encourage the adoption of cutting-edge technologies like AI, virtual reality, augmented reality and immersive experiences within the M&E sector.

One of the major components of WAVES would be a round table of industry leaders and global CEOs with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There would also be engagements with global and Indian industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators.

The Bharat Pavilion at WAVES 2025 will be a "captivating journey through storytelling heritage", showcasing the evolution of print, audio, and visual narratives.

A dedicated marketplace for M&E business partnerships and for facilitating content acquisition, including an e-bazaar, will also be part of the summit with organisers believing that it will serve as the first-ever year-round global content marketplace for the entire M&E sector.