New York: India has asked all UN member states to take prompt and substantial steps for making Hindi, the second most spoken language in the world. It also made an eager and ardent appeal to all Indians settled overseas to put pressure on their respective governments for backing the proposition.

The offer would take time as the politicians and representatives would have to persuade other countries to get their accompaniment.

At the sidelines of the 8th World Hindi Conference that concluded on Sunday, Karan Singh, president of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) stated that the work in this path would start without any delay. Mr. Karan is a well-known Hindi and Sanskrit scholarly person, who was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy for the conference.

To be followed, the suggestion would need two-thirds majority in the 192-member General Assembly.