This week, both the Prime Minister and the President of India used the word Bharat instead of India to introduce the country.
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| Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a sign with the country name "Bharat" in front of his seat. (Source: EFE) |
On September 9, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the word “Bharat” on the name tag of delegates attending the opening ceremony of the Group of 20 (G20) summit instead of the usual word “India.” This has sparked speculation about changing the name of the South Asian country.
India is also known as Bharat, Bharata, Hindustan - pre-colonial names - in Indian languages and are used interchangeably publicly and officially.
While the country has traditionally used the word India in conjunction with titles like president or prime minister when communicating in English, President Droupadi Murmu earlier this week referred to herself as "President Bharat" in an invitation to a dinner for G20 leaders, a move that has sparked controversy.
Opening the G2 Summit in New Delhi on the morning of September 9, Prime Minister Modi sat behind a plaque that read "Bharat", while the G20 logo had both names - "Bharat" in Hindi and "India" in English. Such plaques have previously used the word "India".
Speaking in Hindi, the language spoken by the majority of the population, Mr Modi said: "Bharat welcomes the delegates as the Chair of the G20."
Given the Hindu nationalist ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and its push for more widespread use of Hindi, critics say the use of the name Bharat shows the Indian government is pushing for an official name change for the country.
Over the years, Mr Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also changed the colonial-era names of several towns and cities in a bid to distance India from its colonial past.
“It’s clear that Prime Minister Modi and the BJP are trying to distance modern India from its colonial past,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington. “We’ve seen a trend of renaming streets that recall the colonial past. It’s clear that the BJP wants to use a more appropriate, more appropriate name for India.”
However, so far, spokesmen for the President's Office and the Government of India's Office have not responded to requests for comment on whether India is moving forward with the name change.
New Delhi is hosting leaders of major economies for the G20 Summit at the Bharat Mandapam convention centre, opposite a 16th-century stone fort.
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