Amid the India-Bharat row, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi used ‘Bharat’ name board for the ongoing G20 event in the nation’s capital.
The 2023 G20 New Delhi summit is the eighteenth meeting of G20, a summit being held between 9 – 10 September
It is taking place in Bharat Mandapam International Exhibition-Convention Centre, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. It is the first G20 summit held in India as well as in South Asia.
During the event, PM Modi made his introductory remarks while welcoming the delegates from around the globe where he used the desk name “Bharat” instead of India.
A massive controversy is underway in India, where BJP politicians have started replacing the name Bharat with India and it is being speculated that the name will be changed during a specially called secession of parliament from September 18.
The controversy started a day after the formation of coalition named INDIA, following which the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote to twitter, “REPUBLIC OF BHARAT – happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards AMRIT KAAL”. REPUBLIC OF BHARAT – happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards AMRIT KAAL — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 5, 2023.
Following this the president and the PM on their official letter heads used Bharat instead of India and the desk name on the G20 event during the inaugural remarks is just an extension to the controversy.
In his inaugural remarks at the Summit, PM Modi asked the President of the Union of Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union (AU), Azali Assoumani, to join other leaders at the high table, making the 55-member bloc the second multi-nation grouping after the European Union to be a permanent member of the G-20.
The prime minister told the gathering that it had become a people’s G-20 in India with over 200 events held in more than 60 cities.
Those attending the meeting include Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.