The Indian Council for Cultural Relations will set up a Centre on Indian culture in Washington, ICCR Chairman Karan Singh told the 4th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Hyderabad on Sunday.

"For 15 years I have been trying to set up a cultural centre in Washington but I have not succeeded," Singh said in his key-note address at a plenary session on Diaspora and Culture chaired by Union Minister for Culture and Urban Development S Jaipal Reddy.

• Complete Coverage: Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, 2006

The ICCR currently has 18 cultural centres in countries like Fiji, Trinidad, Mauritius and Malaysia for interaction with the people of those countries, especially the large Indian Diaspora.

Stating that ICCR was planning to set up more cultural centres abroad to promote better understanding among communities of Indian origin, he called upon overseas Indians to help in instituting chairs in important Western universities for the study of Indian art, culture, history and languages.