India's UN Mission Celebrates World Hindi Day, Advocates for Global Hindi Expansion

India's Permanent Mission to the UN commemorated World Hindi Day, emphasizing the global proliferation of Hindi. With key addresses by Minister Savitri Thakur and UN officials, the event underscored ongoing efforts and initiatives to promote Hindi as a global language through multilingualism and technological collaboration.

India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York marked World Hindi Day on February 13, focusing on 'Multilingualism and the promotion of Hindi abroad.' The event's Guest of Honour, Union Minister Savitri Thakur, reflected on the day's 2006 inception and highlighted India's diverse linguistic heritage, according to a press release.

Minister Thakur emphasized ongoing initiatives aimed at popularizing Hindi globally and noted the significance of potential United Nations recognition in this endeavor. India's Permanent Representative at the UN, Parvathaneni Harish, announced Hindi's acknowledgment as a non-official UN language and highlighted India's $7 million contribution to UN News in Hindi.

UN Under-Secretary-General Melissa Fleming acknowledged the critical role of Hindi, spoken by 600 million people, for the UN. The Hindi@UN project and digital initiatives like social media updates bring the UN's work closer to Hindi speakers. Academics at the event discussed leveraging multilingualism and technology to enhance Hindi's digital presence.

(With inputs from agencies.)