At UN Hindi Divas, India Highlights Language’s Global Reach
NEW YORK, NY-Hindi continues to retain its non-official language status at the United Nations, with India voluntarily funding efforts to make UN news and information available in Hindi, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, P. Harish, said on October 8.
Speaking at the observance of Hindi Divas at the UN, Harish said the language’s continued presence in the Department of Global Communications’ (DGC) news and social media services was recognized in a recently adopted resolution on multilingualism.
“In the recently adopted multilingualism resolution, Hindi has continued to retain a non-official language status on account of DGC’s transmission of news and social media in this language,” he said.
“India has voluntarily supported the Hindi at UN project, which makes UN news and information available to Hindi-speaking audiences worldwide,” he added.
The multilingualism resolution, co-sponsored by Andorra and adopted by the UN General Assembly last month, recognizes the cultural, political and diplomatic importance of non-official languages in ensuring representation and effective participation in the organization’s work. It also reaffirms that representatives may deliver statements in non-official languages.
“India has consistently supported multilingualism at the United Nations and has co-sponsored resolutions on this subject,” Harish said.
Harish also highlighted Hindi’s reach beyond India, describing it as one of the world’s most widely spoken languages. He said the Indian diaspora, along with literature, cinema and digital platforms, had helped bring the language to audiences around the world.
“Our diaspora, literature, cinema, and digital platforms have helped carry the language to audiences across the world,” he said.
Joan Forner Rovira, Andorra’s Permanent Representative to the UN, said language was central to international cooperation and diplomacy. Andorra sponsored the multilingualism resolution.
“Article 1 of the Charter of the United Nations calls upon us to promote international cooperation and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,” he said.
“Language is essential to making that vision a reality,” he added, describing language as one of the UN’s most important tools of diplomacy.
BJP MP C. P. Joshi also highlighted Hindi’s growing international reach and India’s support for its use at the UN.
Joshi said the UN Department of Global Communications and the Indian government signed a memorandum of understanding in 2018 to provide UN news in Hindi through voluntary contributions from New Delhi. The agreement was renewed last year for another five years, he said.
“India is a multilingual and multicultural civilization; all languages and dialects constitute our collective heritage,” Joshi said, adding that Hindi was an important part of the country’s linguistic diversity. (IANS)
