New Delhi, April 30: The foreign office is hunting for people to translate dozens of the Prime Minister's Hindi speeches into English so that his thoughts on subjects ranging from terrorism to climate change can be marketed to the international diplomatic community.

Officials did not clarify to The Telegraph whether the translations - of speeches delivered in India and abroad - would be compiled into a book. But a tender the foreign ministry has issued points to the project's magnitude and the care the government is investing in the initiative.

The speeches are expected to total about 90,000 words, says the ministry's tender that veteran officials described as a rare effort at projecting an Indian Prime Minister's message and views to the world in the manner of countries like China.

The effort comes after several requests from foreign diplomats for a ready reckoner on Narendra Modi's views on key subjects, and amid a growing volume of official addresses he has delivered in Hindi at bilateral events.

But meeting the foreign office's requirements will not be easy for potential translators, the tender document suggests. They will need to take a test first.

"In the first stage, a translation test from Hindi to English will be conducted in order to assess quality and authenticity of their translation," the tender document states.

"In the second stage, financial evaluation will be carried out of those agencies/firms/individuals whose translation(s) are found satisfactory."

Modi's preference for Hindi over English in diplomatic engagements was among the first logistical challenges the foreign office confronted when he came to power in May 2014.

Each career diplomat is trained in at least one foreign language - Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic and increasingly Chinese are the favourites. But the lack of much interface with a domestic audience here has meant that learning and practising Hindi and local languages has not been a priority within the foreign ministry.

Initially, the then joint secretary in charge of the Americas, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, was tasked with translating the Prime Minister's comments into English during his one-on-one conversations with foreign leaders, and translating their messages into English for Modi.

For over a year now, Nilakshi Saha Sinha, a director in the West Africa division of the foreign ministry, has been travelling abroad with Modi and translating for him when he meets world leaders.

But the tender marks the first time the foreign office has suggested it wants to translate the Prime Minister's speeches into English for a foreign audience.

Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj too prefers Hindi to English but is far more comfortable than Modi in English. She mostly uses English when talking to foreign dignitaries and delivering addresses to foreign audiences.

Sushma has an officer on special duty in her office specifically to help her with Hindi speeches and their translations into English.

Modi's speeches have been published before, too. His Gujarati speeches, compiled in a book titled Karma Yoga, were handed to bureaucrats in the state in 2007 when he was chief minister.

But the foreign office is not known to have translated and compiled speeches even for former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, known for having a way with words.

The foreign office doesn't need to look far, though, if it does decide to compile the translations of Modi's speeches.

In the summer of 2014, the Chinese government's Foreign Language Press published a compilation of President Xi Jinping's speeches in a book titled The Governance of China.

The compilation, since updated and republished, is akin to several publications China had brought out in the past, too, to familiarise the world with its new leaders. Xi had been a year in office when the book of his speeches was brought out.