RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.326
TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2018
PROMOTION OF INDIAN LANGUAGES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
326. SHRIMATI THOTA SEETHARAMA LAKSHMI:
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) the reasons for not focusing on languages such as Telugu, Bengali etc. for promotion in foreign countries; and
(b) the reasons for promoting teaching of Hindi only in the joint declaration signed in Germany for teaching Indian languages?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
[GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD)]
(a) The Ministry of External Affairs promotes Indian languages in foreign countries, Presently, Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), is supporting Chairs of Indian studies and has also established one long term Chair of Tamil at Warsaw University,
Warsaw, Poland and two Sanskrit Chairs, one at Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Mauritius & other at Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
The Ministry of External Affairs has taken a new initiative by launching a new programme "Bharat Ek Parichay”. Under this programme a set of five boxes are sent to all Indian Missions & Posts abroad. Each box contains atleast one book of all the 22 officially
recognized languages of India. These boxes are being gifted to the educational Institutions abroad, as a mean to promote Indian languages.
(b) The Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) on promotion of languages was signed in 2015 between India and Germany with the intent of strengthening bilateral ties and deepening of cultural relations between India and Germany. The Joint Declaration of Intent aims
at promotion of modern Indian languages, including Hindi in Germany.
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