The United Nations has made a statement over name change requests from countries amid the recent controversy surrounding President Droupadi Murmu's G20 dinner invitations referring to her as 'President of Bharat' instead of the customary 'President of India'. The world body said that it considers such requests as and when they receive them. Farhan Haq, the Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Wednesday cited the example of Turkey changing its name to Turkiye last year.
“Well, in the case of Turkiye, we responded to a formal request delivered to us by the Government. Obviously, if we get requests like that, we consider them as they come,” he said in response to a question on reports that India’s name could be changed to Bharat.
On Tuesday, a row erupted in India with the opposition accusing the Narendra Modi government of planning to drop ‘India’ and just stay with Bharat as the country’s name.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi told his ministerial colleagues to avoid the political row around the Bharat issue, noting that it has been the country's ancient name. Meanwhile, the opposition alleged that the move showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) being scared of the I.N.D.I.A bloc. The ruling party, however, asserted that there was nothing wrong with using Bharat as it is part of the Constitution.
In the meeting of the Council of Ministers, PM Modi permitted the ministers to speak on the Sanatan Dharma row with conditions.
The row began after DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin stated that Sanatan Dharma is anti-equality and social justice and should be eradicated. Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, compared Sanatan Dharma to "coronavirus, malaria, and dengue fever," saying it should not be attacked but exterminated.
The G20 Summit is being held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10 under India's presidency and several heads of state from across the world, including US President Joe Biden, are attending the event.