Modi calls for using language to unite people, Tharoor welcomes 'departure from Hindi dominance'

New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi on Friday pitched for using language as a tool to unite India, while lamenting that it has often been exploited by "selfish interests" to create a divide in the country.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor welcomed the "departure from Hindi dominance" and took up the "language challenge" by tweeting the word 'pluralism' and then adding its Hindi and Malayalam translations.

Addressing the Malayala Manorama News Conclave in Kochi via a video link from here, Modi also asked the media to play the

role of a bridge to bring people speaking different languages closer.

"India is perhaps the only country in the world with so many languages. In a way it is a force multiplier. But language also been exploited by selfish interests to create artificial walls in the country to divide," the prime minister said and wondered whether the power of language can be used to unite India.