Foreign media on 'renaming India as Bharat'
'The Guardian' :
India was buzzing with speculation over rumoured plans to scrap official use of the country’s English name, after a state-issued invitation to the G20 summit referred to it as Bharat.
The government of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been working to remove lingering symbols of British rule from India’s urban landscape, political institutions and history books, but this could be the biggest move yet.
India hosts the G20 summit this weekend, and world leaders have received an invitation to a state dinner hosted by the “president of Bharat”.
Modi himself typically refers to India as Bharat, a word dating back to ancient Hindu scriptures written in Sanskrit, and one of two official names for the country under its constitution.
Members of his Hindu nationalist ruling party, Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), have previously campaigned against using the name India, which has its roots in western antiquity and was imposed during the British conquest.
The government has called a special session of parliament for later in the month, but remains tight-lipped about its legislative agenda, but the broadcaster News18 said unnamed government sources had told it that BJP lawmakers would put forward a special resolution to give precedence to the name Bharat.
Rumours of the plan were met with a mix of opposition and enthusiastic support.
Shashi Tharoor, of the opposition Congress party, said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter: “I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with ‘India’.”
“We should continue to use both words rather than relinquish our claim to a name redolent of history, a name that is recognised around the world.”
The former Test cricketer Virender Sehwag said he welcomed the prospect of a name change and urged India’s cricket board to begin using Bharat on team uniforms. He wrote: “India is a name given by the British (and) it has been long overdue to get our original name ’Bharat’ back.”
For decades, Indian governments of various stripes have sought to excise traces of the British colonial era by renaming roads and even entire cities. The process has intensified under the government led by Modi, who in public speeches has stressed the need for India to abandon traces of a “colonial mindset”.
His administration renovated the parliamentary precinct in the capital, New Delhi, which was originally designed by the British, to replace colonial era structures.
Last month, the government outlined plans for a sweeping overhaul of India’s pre-independence criminal code to remove references to the British monarchy and what the home minister, Amit Shah, described as “other signs of our slavery”.
Modi’s government has also removed Islamic place names imposed during the Mughal empire that preceded British rule, a move critics say is emblematic of a desire to assert the supremacy of India’s majority Hindu religion.
(The Guardian newspaper, London)
BBC says:
A row has broken out in India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government used the term "Bharat" in an official invite for the G20 Summit being sent on behalf of the president.
Bharat is the Hindi name for India.
The dinner invitation from President Droupadi Murmu to foreign leaders attending the summit describes her as "President of Bharat". Several ministers from the ruling BJP party cheered the move, but opposition leaders questioned its purpose.
BBC says:
A row has broken out in India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government used the term "Bharat" in an official invite for the G20 Summit being sent on behalf of the president.
Bharat is the Hindi name for India.
The dinner invitation from President Droupadi Murmu to foreign leaders attending the summit describes her as "President of Bharat". Several ministers from the ruling BJP party cheered the move, but opposition leaders questioned its purpose.
The move comes amid reports that the government is mulling changing the name of the country officially to Bharat - but there has been no confirmation.
All of India's official websites still use the term "government of India" and Ms Murmu is still referred to as the President of India on X (formerly Twitter).
However, Bharat's use in the invite comes just two days after Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) - the ideological mentor of the BJP - said that the country should be called Bharat instead of India.
"At times we use India so those who speak English will understand. But we must stop using this. The name of the country Bharat will remain Bharat wherever you go in the world," Mr Bhagwat said.
On Tuesday, several BJP politicians welcomed the move, calling it a proud moment for the country.
The move comes amid reports that the government is mulling changing the name of the country officially to Bharat - but there has been no confirmation.
All of India's official websites still use the term "government of India" and Ms Murmu is still referred to as the President of India on X (formerly Twitter).
However, Bharat's use in the invite comes just two days after Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) - the ideological mentor of the BJP - said that the country should be called Bharat instead of India.
"At times we use India so those who speak English will understand. But we must stop using this. The name of the country Bharat will remain Bharat wherever you go in the world," Mr Bhagwat said.
On Tuesday, several BJP politicians welcomed the move, calling it a proud moment for the country.
"Happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards Amrit Kaal," Himanta Biswa Sarma, chief minister of Assam state, tweeted.
Amrit Kaal that loosely translates as the "golden era" is a term the prime minister and other government officials are using to refer to the years leading up to 2047 when India will turn 100. They say by then India will be among the most prosperous and developed nations in the world.
The comments drew a sharp response from opposition leaders who linked it to their newly-formed coalition which is called INDIA, an acronym for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.
"It has just been a few weeks since we named our alliance as INDIA and BJP has started sending invitations with 'Republic of Bharat' instead of 'Republic of India'," tweeted Manoj Jha, a leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal party of Bihar state.
"You will neither be able to take India from us, nor Bharat," he added.
This is not the first instance of the government using Bharat in connection with the G20. It has also used the term in a handbook - called Bharat, The Mother Of Democracy - for foreign delegates.
'Dawn' report by (New Delhi correspondent Jawed Naqvi)
NEW DELHI: The Modi government on Tuesday (Sept 5, 2023) appeared to have made an unannounced move towards changing the country’s name from the internationally recognised ‘India’ to the Hindi variant, ‘Bharat’.
The Constitution describes the country in the preamble as India and Bharat. There has been a longstanding quest for the Hindu right to drop India as the country’s official name. An official Indian invitation to the heads of state for the G20 dinner on Sept 9 was sent out in the name of the ‘President of Bharat’, an unusual representation for the President of India.
During PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Greece last month, all protocol material put out referred to the “Prime Minister of Bharat”, it is believed.
The unusual presidential invitation came on the heels of a public demand by the head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at the weekend, calling for the name of India to be changed in favour of Bharat.
Opposition groups charged the government with seeking to divert attention from its alleged diplomatic failures signified by the absence of the Chinese and Russian presidents from the G20 summit.
Mr Modi has projected the summit as the crowning glory for India, but opposition parties say India had seen more heads of states at a major event when Indira Gandhi hosted the 129-member non-aligned movement’s summit in 1983.
The government has scheduled a special Sept 18-22 session of parliament, but has not so far said what it wants to discuss. This has set off speculation it would try to formalise its preferred name through a constitutional amendment.
However, Mr Modi may not have the numbers needed for the major change, in which case it could become another string in his electoral bow for the general elections due in May next year.
The name India has another reason to offend the Hindu right. Ever since a block of 27 opposition parties got together and opted to call themselves INDIA, standing for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, the BJP has been confused about the pitch it must adopt.
“A week later, Modi was still thinking and talking about the alliance’s name — going as far as to say that even Indian Mujahideen and East India Company had India in their name,” The Wire said.
Branding experts have said that the alliance’s name, INDIA, had created significant interest. Other members of the opposition, including parliamentarians from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal, also subsequently lashed out at the government, saying the change of name showed it was rattled by the joint opposition INDIA alliance.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said in a statement the move comes after the opposition alliance named itself INDIA and added that while the BJP had promised “transform India, but all we got is a name change after 9 years!”
Delhi CM and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal told a press conference that the move stems from the BJP being “upset with the INDIA alliance”.
No official statement has been made by the Rashtrapati Bhawan or the Ministry of External Affairs, which is coordinating the G20 events. When asked about the authenticity of the invitation doing the rounds on social media, Rashtrapati Bhawan sources conveyed that G20 events are being coordinated by the MEA and only they can respond on this.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said both Bharat and India were accepted names of the country, yet the BJP was presenting them in opposition to each other.
“The ‘I’ in ISRO (space agency) is India, the “I” in IITs (technology institutes founded by Jawaharlal Nehru)) is India, the ‘I’ in IPS is India. The BJP’s politics has stooped so low because they are afraid of the INDIA (opposition) alliance.”
The comments drew a sharp response from opposition leaders who linked it to their newly-formed coalition which is called INDIA, an acronym for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.
"It has just been a few weeks since we named our alliance as INDIA and BJP has started sending invitations with 'Republic of Bharat' instead of 'Republic of India'," tweeted Manoj Jha, a leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal party of Bihar state.
"You will neither be able to take India from us, nor Bharat," he added.
This is not the first instance of the government using Bharat in connection with the G20. It has also used the term in a handbook - called Bharat, The Mother Of Democracy - for foreign delegates.
'Dawn' report by (New Delhi correspondent Jawed Naqvi)
NEW DELHI: The Modi government on Tuesday (Sept 5, 2023) appeared to have made an unannounced move towards changing the country’s name from the internationally recognised ‘India’ to the Hindi variant, ‘Bharat’.
The Constitution describes the country in the preamble as India and Bharat. There has been a longstanding quest for the Hindu right to drop India as the country’s official name. An official Indian invitation to the heads of state for the G20 dinner on Sept 9 was sent out in the name of the ‘President of Bharat’, an unusual representation for the President of India.
During PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Greece last month, all protocol material put out referred to the “Prime Minister of Bharat”, it is believed.
The unusual presidential invitation came on the heels of a public demand by the head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at the weekend, calling for the name of India to be changed in favour of Bharat.
Opposition groups charged the government with seeking to divert attention from its alleged diplomatic failures signified by the absence of the Chinese and Russian presidents from the G20 summit.
Mr Modi has projected the summit as the crowning glory for India, but opposition parties say India had seen more heads of states at a major event when Indira Gandhi hosted the 129-member non-aligned movement’s summit in 1983.
The government has scheduled a special Sept 18-22 session of parliament, but has not so far said what it wants to discuss. This has set off speculation it would try to formalise its preferred name through a constitutional amendment.
However, Mr Modi may not have the numbers needed for the major change, in which case it could become another string in his electoral bow for the general elections due in May next year.
The name India has another reason to offend the Hindu right. Ever since a block of 27 opposition parties got together and opted to call themselves INDIA, standing for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, the BJP has been confused about the pitch it must adopt.
“A week later, Modi was still thinking and talking about the alliance’s name — going as far as to say that even Indian Mujahideen and East India Company had India in their name,” The Wire said.
Branding experts have said that the alliance’s name, INDIA, had created significant interest. Other members of the opposition, including parliamentarians from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal, also subsequently lashed out at the government, saying the change of name showed it was rattled by the joint opposition INDIA alliance.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said in a statement the move comes after the opposition alliance named itself INDIA and added that while the BJP had promised “transform India, but all we got is a name change after 9 years!”
Delhi CM and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal told a press conference that the move stems from the BJP being “upset with the INDIA alliance”.
No official statement has been made by the Rashtrapati Bhawan or the Ministry of External Affairs, which is coordinating the G20 events. When asked about the authenticity of the invitation doing the rounds on social media, Rashtrapati Bhawan sources conveyed that G20 events are being coordinated by the MEA and only they can respond on this.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said both Bharat and India were accepted names of the country, yet the BJP was presenting them in opposition to each other.
“The ‘I’ in ISRO (space agency) is India, the “I” in IITs (technology institutes founded by Jawaharlal Nehru)) is India, the ‘I’ in IPS is India. The BJP’s politics has stooped so low because they are afraid of the INDIA (opposition) alliance.”
Do not miss the crucial point -- Xi Jinping's protege Li Qiang steps onto world stage
"I think, at different points of time in G20 there have been some Presidents or PMs who, for whatever reason, have chosen not to come themselves. But that country and its position is reflected by whoever is the representative on that occasion," said External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Chinese president Xi Jinping staying away from the Delhi Summit.
"...I think everybody is coming with a great deal of seriousness," Dr Jaishankar said.
As Xi Jinping skips the mega event in Delhi, premier Li Qiang will be the first Chinese premier to join that annual huddle since it began in 2008.
Of course India has pushed its cherished line 'Vasudeva Kutumbakam -- “One Earth, One Family, One Future” for the Summit, but it is also true that the G20 leaders are also hit by differences and a few strategic fault lines.
The G20 consists of 19 countries and the European Union, making up about 85 per cent of the global GDP and two-thirds of the world's population.
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| AFP/Getty Image/The Guardian |
Needless to point out here the Delhi Summit will give the 64-year-old Li Qiang a rare opportunity to rub elbows with some of the most-powerful leaders on the planet.
He may have the chance to shake hands with President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, "though it’s unclear whether he’ll meet privately with either leader, whose nations are both currently embroiled in diplomatic spats with Beijing," says agency Bloomberg. It is also worth taking note that China’s economy is faltering after years of pandemic-induced isolation.
Joe Biden has already called the emerging situations a “ticking time bomb” for the rest of the world.
Sun Yun, a senior fellow and director of the China Program at the Washington-based Stimson Center, said,“I don’t expect him to announce anything significant diplomatically or security-wise,” she said. “Those are reserved for Xi.” (Bloomberg/Leader Telegram)
G-20 Summit: As a host can India reduce the shadow of Russia-Ukraine conflict? ::: Foreign media on renaming India as 'Bharat' !!
There is a saying. "In case of horse. or a book or a sword; of woman, man or lute or word. the usefulness depends on the qualities of users". The same could be about any major multi-lateral summit or conference especially in a world which is fractured.
Hence there is an added importance about the New Delhi Summit. To an extent it may not be erroneous to suggest that in this era of fractured multilateralism and dysfunctional UN, G-20 can be considered as a 'dream team' of global representation.
India's standpoint so far has been of neutrality. For that matter the rest of the world had been attacking Russia for opening its conflict with Ukraine. India on the other hand has always been of the opinion that any tension, any dispute should be resolved through peaceful means, through dialogue. New Delhi is sticking to strategic autonomy.
Analysts say it would be erroneous to presume the role of a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for G-20. The platform works on the basis of consensus. That way G-20 is a much more broader international grouping than G-7 -- which is generally seen as a stage of the elites. Here its more of consensus and also including the Global South.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government have consistently backed the idea of Dialogue to resolve the crisis. It is worth mentioning that External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has also told Rajya Sabha that India's policy towards Russia-Ukraine conflict required “immediate cessation of violence and end to hostilities and also a return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy”.
Even on May 20th, 2023 after his meeting with the Ukrainian president, Prime Minister Modi tweeted saying, "Conveyed our clear support for dialogue and diplomacy to find a way forward. We will continue extending humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine". International media and India watchers are aware of the fact that India and Russia have close economic and defence ties and also that India on multiple occasions abstained from voting in the UN and has rather taken a more neutral stance on the conflict. However, Modi's message on Twitter (in May) that he had conveyed New Delhi's "clear support for dialogue and diplomacy to find a way forward" found prominent mention in the media reports globally.
Hence as far as the role of a host is concerned, India will provide platform all important countries small and big to express their views on the Russia-Ukraine war. In fact, the New Delhi Summit may help the international community yet again to understand that both Russia and Ukraine have their respective 'reasons' for the situation they are.
Both see the ongoing conflict as 'an option' to come out of existential crisis. Hence these views have to be respected.
According to former career diplomats hence this conflict is more complex situation than straight black or white. The 'grey portion' is there owing to multiple factors and this must be appreciated by global powers including the members of G-20.
Meera Shankar, who was India's second woman Ambassador to the United States having served from April 26, 2009 to 2011; says, "It is known we have strategic equities in Russia and we have been able to explain to the US that our (India's) stand is not anti-western stance. But a stand that looks to protect India's strategic interest". It is something in tune with what Dr Jaishankar had said, New Delhi's stance in this war is not a 'neutral stand' either. "India's stand is in favour of India".
Nothing can be more truthful. About 60 per cent of India's defence equipment is of Russian origin. There is no way India can ignore this fact.
The fact that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will miss the Summit show there are hurdles and complexities.
It is therefore presumed that the two-day summit, scheduled for September 9 and 10, will primarily be influenced by Western nations and their allies.
News agency 'Reuters' reported citing analysts that a failed summit would expose the limits of cooperation between Western and non-Western powers, and prompt countries to double down on the groups they are more comfortable with.
ends
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| Chinese premier Li Qiang |
****
Li is generally regarded by observers as pro-business and has voiced support for economic reforms.
Li Qiang became the 8th premier of the People's Republic of China in March 2023, having been elevated to the second-ranking member on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee Politburo Standing Committee in October 2022.
Li was the party secretary for Shanghai City from 2017 to 2022 where he pursued pro-business policies and handling the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Li is considered part of the "New Zhijiang Army", the party faction of Xi Jinping, the party general secretary and the most powerful leader since 2012.
The close relationship started in the mid-2000s when both held party positions in Zhejiang Province.
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