The United Nations considers requests from countries to change their names as and when the world body receives them, a top UN official has said, amid a row over the ‘India-Bharat’ renaming row.
Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Farhan Haq 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, as quoted by PTI.
On Tuesday, a massive row erupted after invitations for a G20 dinner were sent out by President Droupadi Murmu, describing her position as ‘President of Bharat’ instead of the customary ‘President of India’. The Opposition had hit out at the BJP-led Centre accusing the Modi government of renaming the country’s name to Bharat.
PM Modi on Wednesday told his ministerial colleagues to avoid a political row over the Bharat renaming issue. PM Modi 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.