‘India working for rightful place for Hindi at UN’

India is working to ensure the “rightful place” for Hindi at the UN, a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs said.

Announcing the 12th World Hindi Conference to be held in Fiji from Feb. 15 to 17, Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East) of the Ministry of External Affairs, said the efforts of the Government of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on promoting Hindi had enhanced the stature of the language across the world.

“We have achieved limited progress at the United Nations regarding Hindi,” Kumar said.

“The UN has made a provision to provide all the important messages and press releases in Hindi.

“This provision has been made also for Bangla and Urdu. We will make efforts to ensure a rightful place for Hindi at the UN,” said Kumar, elaborating on the role of Hindi in India’s outreach to the world, especially in places that received Indian indentured labourers during the 19th century.

Kumar said the upcoming World Hindi Conference in Fiji would provide an opportunity for India to highlight the links between India and the Pacific Ocean region where Hindi-speaking people from the Gangetic belt and from other parts of India were taken during the 19th century.

A delegation of 270 academics, experts and Hindi writers would be flown to Fiji to participate in the conference.