Bharat vs India row: UN says it considers name change requests 'as and when they come'

Amid the India-Bharat naming row, a top United Nations official on Wednesday said that the world body considers requests from countries to change their names as and when it receives them.

A political storm was kicked off in the country after invitations for a G20 dinner were sent out on behalf of President Droupadi Murmu describing her position as 'President of Bharat' instead of the customary 'President of India'.

Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Farhan Haq, on Wednesday cited the example of Turkey changing its name to Turkiye last year, news agency PTI reported.

"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.

The Opposition has been accusing the Narendra Modi government of planning to drop India and stay with just Bharat as the country's name ever since the invitations came out in public forum.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday 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.

He 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 September 9 and 10 under India's presidency and several heads of state from across the world, including US President Joe Biden, are attending the event.

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