New Delhi: A 270-member team from India will travel to Fiji to attend the 12th World Hindi Conference from Feb 15-17 which is being organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in coordination with the Fijian government, a top official said on Saturday.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka will jointly inaugurate the conference which is being held at the Denarau Island Convention Center, in Nadi, Fiji.

EAM Jaishankar's visit is the first high level visit from India to Fiji since the new government took charge in the island nation in December last year.

Fiji's Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad, who was in India earlier this week, will attend the concluding ceremony of the conference on February 17.

The Fijian Deputy PM had met with EAM Jaishankar and other officials during his India visit.

The decision to host the conference in Fiji was taken at the last World Hindi Sammelan in Mauritius in 2018, said Secretary (East) in the MEA Saurabh Kumar.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan and Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Ajay Mishra will also attend the conference.

The Raj Bhasha Vibhag of the Home Ministry has helped to organise the event, said the official.

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, said Kumar.

“A 270 team from India will go to Fiji and many Hindi scholars from India and abroad will participate in the conference,” he said, adding that representatives from 50 countries would also participate.

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, he added.

(With UNI inputs)