Last Updated: September 07, 2023, 10:02 IST
New York, United States of America (USA)
Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Farhan Haq on Wednesday cited the example of Turkey changing its name to Turkiye last year.
The United Nations considers country name change requests, citing Turkey’s example. India’s ‘Bharat’ name change sparks political debate
Amid the ongoing ‘Bharat’ row in India, a top UN official has stated that the world body will consider requests from countries to change their names as and when it receives them. Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Farhan Haq, made these remarks on Wednesday in response to a question posed during a press briefing.
This comes amid the controversy over President Droupadi Murmu’s G20 dinner invites referring to her as ‘President of Bharat’ instead of ’President of India’. Citing the example of Turkey changing its name to Turkiye last year, Haq said a similar request for a change of name at the UN can be considered.
“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.
Earlier this week, a row erupted in India after invitations for a G20 dinner were sent out by President Murmu, describing her position as ‘President of Bharat’ instead of the customary ‘President of India’, with the opposition accusing the Narendra Modi government of planning to drop India and stay with just Bharat as the country’s name.
On Wednesday, PM Modi told his ministerial colleagues to avoid the political row around the Bharat issue, noting that it has been the country’s ancient name. He spoke on the issues during his interaction with the Union Council of Ministers in which he laid down the dos and don’ts to be observed by them during the upcoming G20 summit.
The Prime Minister asked them to remain in the national capital during the mega exercise and discharge any duty assigned to them to ensure that visiting dignitaries are not put to any inconvenience.
The G20 Summit is being held in New Delhi on Saturday and Sunday under India’s presidency and several heads of state from across the world are attending the mega diplomatic event.
(With PTI input)
