Language Friendship Bridge
- April 10, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Language Friendship Bridge
Subject : International Relations
Section: Msc
Concept :
About the Project
- The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has envisaged a special project called ‘The Language Friendship Bridge’, which plans to train five to 10 people in the official languages of Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Indonesia.
- Aim :
- To expand its cultural footprint in nations with which it has historical ties.
- To facilitate better people-to-people exchanges.
- Languages :
- As of now, the ICCR has zeroed in on 10 languages: Kazakh, Uzbek, Bhutanese, Ghoti (spoken in Tibet), Burmese, Khmer (spoken in Cambodia), Thai, Sinhalese and Bahasa (spoken in both Indonesia and Malaysia).
- Experts also feel that the ICCR’s list of languages needs to be expanded, with India seeing a boom in cultural and economic ties with other neighbouring countries as well.
How will it be done?
- There are two possibilities.
- One is to start tie-ups wherein teachers from these countries come and teach courses in India.
- The second approach is the ICCR offering scholarships to Indian students to go and study these languages in the countries where they are spoken.
- Language experts feel that the second option is the better one as a proper cultural environment is needed to learn a language in its entirety.
About ICCR
- The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is an autonomous organisationof the Government of India, involved in India’s global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people.
- It was founded on 9 April 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, thefirst Education Minister of independent India.
- The ICCR Headquarter is situated at Azad Bhavan, New Delhi, with regional offices.
- The council also operates missions internationally.
Activities
- The Council addresses its mandate of cultural diplomacy through a broad range of activities.
- In addition to organising cultural festivals in India and overseas, the ICCR financially supports a number of cultural institutions across India, and sponsors individual performers in dance, music, photography, theatre, and the visual arts.
- It also administers the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, established by the Government of India in 1965, whose last award was in 2009.