"Bharat Welcomes You": PM Greets World Leaders At G20 Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed world leaders at the G20 Summit in Delhi today, with a greeting that hinted at the proposed name change from India to Bharat.

"Bharat welcomes you," PM Modi said at the opening remarks of the G20 Summit.

"Bharat" has also been used in a G20 booklet meant for foreign delegates titled - "Bharat, The Mother Of Democracy". "Bharat is the official name of the country. It is mentioned in the Constitution as also in the discussions of 1946-48," the booklet says.

The United Nations yesterday said it "will change India's name to Bharat in UN records" when New Delhi completes all the formalities for the same.

"When India completes the formalities to change the name, they will inform us and we will change the name at the UN (records)," United Nations Secretary General's chief spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

In his opening remarks, PM Modi said the Ukraine war has deepened the trust deficit globally, and appealed to the entire world to turn it into confidence in each other.

"This is a time when age-old challenges are calling for new solutions from us. And therefore, with a human-centric approach, we have to move forward to fulfil our responsibilities," PM Modi said.

"After COVID-19, there is a big crisis of trust deficit in the world. The war has deepened this trust deficit. When we can defeat Covid we can also achieve victory over this trust deficit crisis," he said.