India to Host Kimberley Process Plenary in New Delhi

India, which holds the Chair of the Kimberley Process for 2026, called a consultation of stakeholders in Luanda, Angola, on 3 November 2026 ahead of the plenary meeting it will host in New Delhi. The meeting was led by Yashvir Singh, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce and the Kimberley Process Chair. The Vice-Chair, Ghana, the previous Chair, the United Arab Emirates, and the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the Process's working bodies took part, along with the World Diamond Council, the Civil Society Coalition, the Diamond Development Initiative at RESOLVE and the African Diamond Producers' Association.

The New Delhi plenary

The plenary runs from 30 November to 4 December 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, preceded by the New Delhi Diamond Dialogue, also called the KP Forum, on 29 November 2026. Associated events continue to 5 December 2026. This will be the third time India hosts the plenary; it chaired the Process earlier in 2008 and in 2019, and took over the present Chairship on 1 January 2026. India's theme for the year is Confidence, Compliance and Credibility, the three Cs.

What was discussed

The working bodies reported on their work plans and flagged items for the plenary, among them draft administrative decisions, responsible sourcing of rough diamonds, a better statistical reporting platform and stronger institutional governance and compliance by participants. Talks also covered sustainable funding for the Secretariat, digitalisation of certification and statistics, reform of the definition of a conflict diamond, artisanal and alluvial production, consumer confidence and peer review.

India and ADPA

The consultation was held alongside the twentieth anniversary celebrations of the African Diamond Producers' Association, set up in Luanda on 4 November 2006. The body has 15 effective member countries and 8 observers, of whom only two are non-African, namely India and the Russian Federation. Its members together account for more than 60 per cent of world diamond output. Sierra Leone chairs it at present through Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources Julius Daniel Mattai, and Botswana was admitted as an observer on 4 November 2026 at the 13th Extraordinary Meeting of the ADPA Council of Ministers. That meeting also approved a memorandum of understanding between India's Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council and ADPA covering skills in diamond sorting, valuation and manufacturing, technical exchange and trade links.

About the scheme

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was set up under United Nations General Assembly Resolution 55/56 of 2000 to keep conflict diamonds out of the legitimate rough diamond trade. It works as a tripartite arrangement of governments, industry and civil society, and has 60 participants covering 86 countries, with the European Union and its member states counted as one. The Chair rotates every year among participating countries.