India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for peace in the remote northeast where ethnic clashes killed more than 150 people
AFP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government may be considering renaming the country to "Bharat"--the speculation was triggered after an invite the country's president sent out to G20 leaders attending the grouping's summit later this month became public.

The invite to the official dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu--who holds a ceremonial position as the head of the nation--for G20 Heads of State and ministers, showed it was from "the President of Bharat," instead of the usual "President of India," media reports said.

The invite is seen as a surprise shift in nomenclature on the global stage as the country is set to host world leaders for the G20 Summit, including U.S. President Joe Biden, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, among others.

The invite also triggered a prompt response from the country's Opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), accusing the ruling government of renaming the nation over political one-upmanship.

Amid this development, the Modi government is likely to introduce a bill during the special session of Parliament, scheduled to take place Sept. 18-22, to officially rename India as Bharat.

Parvesh Verma, a member of Parliament from the country's ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is said to have prepared a private member's bill aiming to amend the Indian Constitution's preamble to remove the word India. The government has also introduced a special resolution in parliament for the changing of the name "India" to "Bharat."

In the bill, Verma points out that the name "Bharat" has been extensively recognized internationally as an alternate name for India, according to Hindustan Times. "By officially adopting 'Bharat' as the formal name of our nation, we will establish a unified identity in global forums, promoting India's cultural and historical heritage on the international stage. Renaming India as 'Bharat' will reinforce our cultural identity, foster national unity, and project a more authentic representation of our country's rich heritage on the global stage."

X (formerly known as Twitter) users in India have extended their support to the ruling party's efforts to change the country's name to Bharat.

This isn't the first time the ruling party leaders have proposed to change "India" to "Bharat" in an attempt to better represent the country's culture. Previously in July, the India vs Bharat debate gained heat after the Opposition parties rebranded themselves as I.N.D.I.A.

The Modi government has been renaming a number of colonial-era buildings and roadways in a bid to shed the remnants of the nation's colonial past. The shift started in 2016 at the heart of Lutyens' Delhi when Race Course Road, where the Indian Prime Minister's official residence is situated, was rechristened Lok Kalyan Marg. "Over the past few years, the Government has slowly been steering India away from these vestiges of British rule, and a number of steps have been taken across several domains to firmly mark the identity of New India, truly freeing it from its colonial past," the Indian Ministry of Information & Broadcasting wrote on a blog in December 2022.

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