New Delhi: In an attempt to reach to more
people in India, British High Commission today launched it's
Hindi website hoping that this will bring a transformational
change in the relations between both the countries.
The website -- www.ukinindia.fco.gov.uk/hi -- will be
updated on a daily basis parallel to it's English counterpart.
The website has sections like news, business, details
for British nationals, information about visas, studying and
holidaying abroad.
Launching the website, British High Commissioner Sir
Richard Stagg said, "given the fact that Hindi is the language
more people speak in India and that the internet is becoming
more popular, we hope that this move would bring a
transformational change in our relations with the people
here."
"This step is part of a wider strategy to communicate
directly with the citizens of this country and elsewhere. We
hope to communicate with communities which we haven't been
able to till now," Stagg said.
Considering "digital diplomacy" to be as important as
traditional diplomacy, he said, "in case of traditional
diplomacy, it is just the government to government, whereas
through websites or digital diplomacy, lobby groups, NGOs,
society gets involved."
Relation between any two countries is not just about
the government of one country and the other, the NGOs, lobby
groups and society too shape the policy of a country, he said.
The Commission does not, as of now plan to have their
website in other Indian languages, preferring to check the
effectiveness of the newly launched website.
"We do not have any plans of having websites in other
languages. If we are able to communicate effectively through
this website, we will then see if we can be more ambitious,"
he said.
-PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 21:57