A dinner invitation extended to G20 delegates and other attendees was issued by the ‘President of Bharat’. This sparked a political controversy, with opposition parties alleging that the government is attempting to eliminate ‘India’ from the country’s name. They also associated this action with their decision to name their alliance INDIA.
At the G20 Summit that commenced on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was recognized as the leader of ‘Bharat’. As he delivered his opening remarks at the start of the two-day event, his name card at the Bharat Mandapam, the summit’s venue, read ‘Bharat’.
Honoured to welcome the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 Family. This will strengthen the G20 and also strengthen the voice of the Global South. pic.twitter.com/fQQvNEA17o
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 9, 2023
In several official G20 documents, the government has referred to the country as ‘Bharat’, a term that is used interchangeably with India in the Constitution.
The dinner invitation controversy was reignited when it was addressed by the ‘President of Bharat’. Opposition parties claimed that this was an attempt by the government to remove ‘India’ from the country’s name, and they linked this move to their decision to name their alliance INDIA. The G20 Summit began on Saturday with deliberations on pressing global issues by Modi, US President Joe Biden, and other leaders of the world’s wealthiest economies, all under the shadow of the Ukraine war, which has significantly disrupted the global geopolitical order.
India, hosting this high-profile summit for the first time, aims to achieve concrete results in areas such as climate transition financing, digital public infrastructure, accelerated implementation of sustainable development goals, a framework for cryptocurrency, and reform of international financial institutions.
The majority of the Indian G20 presidency’s priorities were designed to benefit the Global South or developing countries. Indian negotiators involved in drafting the leaders’ declaration are confident that most of New Delhi’s proposals would be endorsed by the top leadership of the grouping.