Bangladesh FM pushes for Bangla's inclusion as an official UN language

Mahmud highlights Bangla's prevalence as one of the most widely spoken languages in the world

Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud has signalled the government's intention to pursue efforts geared towards the adoption of Bangla as an official language of the United Nations.

Speaking to reporters after paying tribute to the fallen heroes of the 1952 Language Movement at the Central Shaheed Minar on Wednesday, Mahmud highlighted Bangla's prevalence as one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.

“There are over 350 million people who speak Bangla across the world. It is probably the 6th or 7th most spoken language in the world. We intend to make Bangla an official language of the UN,” he said.

The government had made several attempts in the past to raise the matter at the UN.

On Feb 21, 2021, former foreign minister AK Abdul Momen said the UN had no objection to making Bangla an official language.

However, the UN said Bangladesh would have to bear the costs associated with the process, proposing a sum of $600 million during preliminary talks.

According to Momen, a similar proposal had been made for Japanese, Hindi and German to be added as official languages of the UN.