Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday delivered his inaugural speech at the G20 Summit representing 'Bharat' amid a name change row. The country tag in front of Modi read 'Bharat' as he welcomed the world leaders and expressed grief over the Morocco earthquake. The development comes amid the India vs Bharat debate which erupted after the dinner invites, a note on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Indonesia for the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit used the term 'Prime Minister of Bharat', fuelling the fire.
Earlier, the G20 dinner invites from the President House also read 'President of Bharat' instead of 'President of India' adding fuel to the speculations that the Centre might change the official state title from India to Bharat.
The Opposition has been cornering the Centre over the issue blaming it as an attempt to change the name since their bloc's name reads I.N.D.I.A. (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance).
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Meanwhile, the United Nations said that it will change the country’s name to "Bharat" when New Delhi completes the formalities for the same, according to a NDTV report citing UN Secretary General's chief spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
"When India completes the formalities to change the name, they will inform us and we will change the name at the UN (records)," United Nations Secretary General's chief spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, as quoted by NDTV.
"It's not for the UN to comment on the debate," Dujarric said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Delhi, adding "As long as the formalities are done, the UN will change the name too. It's a bureaucratic issue when it comes to what the UN needs to do".
However, the UN top official cited the example of Turkey changing its name to Turkiye last year and said "history has shown that it has happened a number of times for several countries".