New Delhi
August 18, 2006 

Ministry of External Affairs is actively engaged in implementation of the Official Language Policy of the Government of India. It is also playing an important role in the promotion of Hindi abroad. 

2. Hindi is being taught in about 600 universities and schools in over 40 countries. In countries like China, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Germany, U.K. and USA Hindi is taught at post-graduate level. In countries like Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Mongolia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Gulf countries Hindi is being taught mainly at school level or by voluntary organizations. 

3. Audio visual and print material is also disseminated abroad. This includes books written in Hindi on Indian culture, history and philosophy, Hindi text books, story books for children, dictionaries, Hindi learning kits, CDs and Hindi Software for computers. 

4. Regional Hindi Conferences are held every year in different countries. In the current calendar year these conferences have been held in Australia and Abu Dhabi in February 2006 and recently in Tokyo in July 2006. 

5. Seven World Hindi Conferences have been held in Nagpur – 1975, Mauritius – 1976, New Delhi – 1983, Mauritius – 1993, Trinidad & Tobago – 1996, London – 1999 and Suriname – 2003. 

6. Hindi magazines are produced abroad; 'Shantidoot' from Norway, 'Hindi Jagat' from USA, 'Pravasi Times' from UK are some of the prominent ones. Publications by Indian Missions and voluntary organizations include inter-alia 'Maitri' in Bulgaria, 'Bharat Bhawan' in UK 'Vividh Bharat' in Nepal and 'Hindi Nidhi Swar' in Trinidad & Tobago. 

7. The Hindi website is initially being launched as a mirror image of the Ministry's English website today on 18th August 2006 by Shri Anand Sharma, Minister of State for External Affairs. It will act as an important vehicle for MEA's outreach and propagation of Hindi efforts both in India and abroad. Some of its important functions are to: 

(a) Facilitate the work of Hindi institutions and schools across the world. 
(b) Create an awareness of Government of India's policies and perspectives on important issues. 
(c) Generate interest, inter-alia, in Indian democracy, literature, culture, arts and socio-economic development. 
(d) Promote competitions and participation in Hindi events through posting of a calendar that can be accessed by all. 
(e) Invite comments from viewers on contents of the website. 

MEA's Hindi website can be accessed at www.mea.gov.in