Hindi as strong as any other language: Swaraj

Emphasising that the Hindi language was as capable as any other in the world, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday said it could be used to do anything.

Inaugurating the official website of the 10th World Hindi Conference (WHC), to be held in Bhopal in September, here the minister said the impression that only a specific language could enable oneself to study science or any other subject was wrong.

"If Chinese, Japanese, German and French could succeed in doing everything in their own languages then why not Indians using Hindi," the minister said.

Swaraj said ever since becoming the external affairs minister if she had a guest who was speaking in his or her mother tongue, she would speak in Hindi.

"If we have to have an interpreter than why not Hindi...I speak English when the person I am interacting with is using the same language," she said, adding that Hindi must be given its due place.

Talking about the website, Swaraj said it was a user friendly website and people wishing to participate in the three-day long conference, starting September 10, could register themselves using Hindi.

The registration fee for Indian students and participants is Rs.1,000 and Rs.5,000 respectively. The fee for foreign students is 25 dollars and 100 dollars for other participants from other countries.

The website went live from Saturday.