PTI

New Delhi, Aug 19: India has said that Hindi should be included as one of the languages used by the United Nations as it was spoken by a substantial percentage of the world population.

Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said that an international Hindi conference will be held in New York early next year as part of efforts to popularise further the language in the world arena.

"Hindi should be included in the United Nations. A substantial percentage of the world population uses this language," Sharma said here last evening after launching the Hindi website of the Ministry of External Affairs.

With emphasis being laid on greater use of Hindi, MEA launched the website in this language as part of an effort to make available the country's foreign policy to a much wider populace.

The Hindi website www.Mea.Gov.In, developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), will initially be a mirror image of the Ministry's English version and its further development is expected later.

Sharma said the Hindi website will help in creating greater awareness among the people about the government's policy and perspectives on important foreign affairs issues.

"It will go a long way in generating interests in Indian democracy, literature, culture, arts and socio-economic development," he said.

The MEA is already engaged actively in implementation of the Official Language Policy of the government and is playing an important role in promotion of Hindi abroad.

Regional Hindi conferences are held every year in different countries and in the current year, these conclaves have been held in Australia, Abu Dhabi and Tokyo.