Prime minister Narendra Modi will address the UN General Assembly in New York in Hindi, informed home minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday. Addressing a function organised on the occasion of Hindi Divas, Singh said Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first prime minister to deliver his speech in the United Nations in Hindi.
‘I, as a minister, once had delivered my speech in the United Nations in Hindi. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver his speech in United Nations in Hindi. The Prime Minister also speaks Hindi when he meets foreign dignitaries,’ he said amidst applause at a function organised at Rashtrapati Bhavan. President Pranab Mukherjee was present at the function.
The PM is expected to address the UNGA on 27 September. Singh said 55 per cent population of the country speaks Hindi while 85 to 90 per cent people in the country understand Hindi even though it is not their mother tongue.
‘Hindi is the common language of the country,’ he said. The home minister said Sanskrit is the mother of all Indian languages while Hindi and other regional languages are sisters.