New Delhi: Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Fiji to attend the 12th World Hindi Conference that is being co-hosted by the Governments of India and Fiji on Feb 15-17 in Nadi.

Jaishankar tweeted: " Bula and Namaste Fiji." "The 12th #VishwaHindiSammelan will begin from tomorrow in Nadi. Thank Minister of Education Aseri Radrodro for the warm welcome," he said. "Look forward to meeting Hindi enthusiasts from all over the world," he tweeted.

EAM’s visit to the South Pacific Ocean island country is also the first by an incoming Ministerial delegation after the formation of the new Government in Fiji in December 2022.

EAM Jaishankar would hold bilateral meetings with the new leadership of Fiji during his visit.

The visit comes close on the heels of the first high-level visit to India by Deputy Prime Minister Prof. Biman Prasad on February 5-10 during which he met the EAM and other officials in New Delhi.

EAM Jaishankar and Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka will jointly inaugurate the 12th World Hindi Conference on Wednesday, which is being held at the Denarau Island Convention Center, in Nadi, Fiji.

Fiji's Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad will attend the concluding ceremony of the conference on February 17.

The decision to host the conference in Fiji was taken at the last World Hindi Sammelan in Mauritius in 2018.

A 270 team from India is travelling to Fiji for the conference, while many Hindi scholars from India and abroad are set to participate in the conference.

Representatives from 50 countries would also participate in the sammelan.

During the event scholars of Hindi and those who have contributed to the language will be honoured.

The South and Northeast region will be given emphasis to and experts from these regions will be participating in the conference.

The theme of the conference is ‘Hindi – Traditional Knowledge to Artificial Intelligence’.

Ten parallel sessions will be held during the conference. These are: Hindi in Girmitiya countries; Hindi in Fiji and the Pacific; IT and Hindi in the 21st century; Media and the global perception of Hindi; Global reference of Indian knowledge traditions and Hindi; Linguistic coordination and Hindi translation; Different forms of Hindi cinema and global scenario; Global market and Hindi; Pravasi Hindi sahitya in changing scenario and Hindi teaching in India and abroad - challenges and solutions.

Hindi is one of the official languages of Fiji, and is spoken by a wide spectrum of Fijian population.

India is also a major development partner of Fiji, with the cooperation focused on capacity building, healthcare, education, agriculture, MSME sector, renewable energy, climate change and Information Technology.

The EAM travels to Sydney on February 18 for a bilateral meeting.