The United Nations will “change India’s name to Bharat in UN documents” after New Delhi completes all the necessary formalities, a spokesperson for the international organization told NDTV today. “When India completes the formalities of the name change, they will inform us and we will change the name in the UN (registers),” said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for the UN secretary general.
The statement came days after a huge row erupted over India’s transfer of Bharat at President Droupadi Murmu’s dinner invitation to foreign leaders attending the G20 summit this weekend.
“The UN should not comment on this debate,” said Dujarric, speaking on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Delhi.
“Until the formalities are completed, the UN will also change the name. It is a bureaucratic matter that concerns the UN,” he added. India is by no means the first country to change its name. There is a long list of countries that have changed their name for political, social or other reasons.
The top UN official also cited the example of Turkey changing its name to Turkiye last year, saying “history has shown that this has happened many times in many countries”.
The opposition accused the Center of wanting to leave India and keep the country’s name Bharati. Several ministers and BJP leaders said there was no need for controversy as “Bharat” has been “used since ancient times”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently spoke about the issue during an interaction with the Union Council of Ministers, where he defined what they should and should not follow at the upcoming G20 summit. He urged his colleagues to avoid political disputes over the Bharati issue, pointing out that it was the ancient name of the country.
