The International Big Cat Alliance represents the next phase of India's conservation diplomacy. Discuss its objectives, structure and challenges.

Q. The International Big Cat Alliance represents the next phase of India's conservation diplomacy. Discuss its objectives, structure and challenges. (15 marks, 250 words)

Launched by PM Modi in April 2023 at Mysuru during "50 Years of Project Tiger", the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) became a full-fledged treaty-based intergovernmental organisation on 23 January 2025, extending India's tiger-conservation success into a Global-South-led multilateral platform [2][3].

Objectives - Provide a single umbrella for seven big cats — Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Jaguar, Puma — unlike species-specific bodies like the Global Tiger Forum [2]. - Advance habitat restoration, anti-poaching, prey-base and human-wildlife conflict mitigation through shared knowledge and finance [2]. - Anchor India's South-South conservation diplomacy, complementing the ISA and CDRI as India-headquartered treaty bodies [5].

Structure - Secretariat at New Delhi, nodal ministry MoEFCC (not MEA), with ₹150 crore one-time Indian support for 2023-24 to 2027-28 [1]. - Conceived as a coalition of ~96 big-cat range countries plus non-range states, scientific bodies and corporates; early ratifiers include India, Nicaragua, Eswatini and Somalia [1][2]. - First Assembly (2025), New Delhi, chaired by Minister Yadav, drew nine ministerial delegations [4].

Challenges - Financial sustainability beyond the seed corpus — Yadav himself flagged reliance on corporate and multilateral funding [8]. - Overlap with CITES, CMS and GTF risks duplication. - Uneven capacity across range states, and the recent rescheduling of the 1st Summit signals coordination hurdles [7].

Rooted in India's Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 legacy, IBCA can mature into a credible conservation-diplomacy instrument if it secures diversified financing and clear complementarity with existing regimes — turning big-cat protection into a template for ecosystem-based Global-South cooperation aligned with SDG-15.

(~250 words)

Sources: 1. Cabinet approves establishment of IBCA (2024) — Secretariat in India, ₹150 crore for 2023-24 to 2027-28, early ratifiers 2. IBCA launch at Mysuru (2023) — seven big cats, ~96 range countries, Project Tiger link 3. IBCA comes into force as treaty-based IGO (2025) — 23 January 2025 treaty status 4. First Assembly of IBCA, New Delhi (2025) — nine ministerial delegations, chaired by Yadav 5. India to host IBCA Summit 2026 — MoEFCC nodal, South-South cooperation framing 7. Rescheduling of First IBCA Summit — coordination challenge 8. Corporate funding essential for big-cat conservation — Yadav — financial sustainability concern