The Hindi website of UN News was initiated on the occasion of World Hindi Day in January 2019

The government on Thursday said it has been making efforts for the promotion of Hindi as an official language of the United Nations and its propagation worldwide.

In written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said the government signed an MoU with the UN Secretariat in March 2018 for an initial period of two years for increasing the volume and frequency of Hindi content produced by the UN to serve Hindi language audiences around the world.

In July 2018, UN launched Hindi versions of its social media content on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, he said.

The Hindi website of UN News was initiated on the occasion of World Hindi Day in January 2019 and the UN News audio bulletins in Hindi (UN Radio) are being released on a weekly basis, Mr Muraleedharan said.

In addition, Indian leaders have delivered statements at the UN in Hindi, including the Prime Minister's statement at the 69th UN General Assembly in September 2014 and at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015, he said.

The government has been making efforts for the promotion of Hindi as an official language of the United Nations (UN) and its propagation worldwide, the minister said.

Currently no proposal has been made by the government for making any other language as an official language of the United Nations, he said.

The UN has a specific procedure for any language to be recognised as an Official Language of the UN. According to the procedure, this will involve adoption of a Resolution by the UN General Assembly with a minimum of two-third majority of its membership, Mr Muraleedharan said.

The additional expenditure, according to UN rules, will have to be contributed by all UN members, he said.