World leaders arriving at the G20 meeting, such as Joe Biden of the United States, have received a dinner invitation from the President of Bharat.
sent by the President of India Droupadi Murmur, who has used the Hindi name of his country as Bharat. Murmu undoubtedly has a prime minister Narendra Modi’s support for name selection.
India’s nationalist Hindus have been excited about Bharat. There have been calls in the past in Hindu nationalist circles that the English name should also be changed to Bharat.
Bharat is the official name of India in Hindi, India in English.
According to those who favor Bharat, “India” refers too much to the country’s colonial past. India was a British colony for nearly 200 years before gaining independence in 1947. “India” became established during the British Empire.
– The name India is an insult given to us by the British. Bharat, on the other hand, is a symbol of our culture, said a representative of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP party Harnath Sigh Yadav in Indian media.
However, opposition parties criticize the project to abandon the English name, and consider the proposal a political game by Hindu nationalists.
Of course, names have been changed in India before. For example, Bombay became Mumbai in 1995 and Madras became Chennai in 1996.
India seeks leadership in the Global South
India is seeking a bigger role for itself in world politics.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has wanted to present himself more and more as a representative of the so-called global south and to bring out the voice of countries that are not part of the G20 group.
The G20 includes the 20 most prosperous countries in the world. The group’s countries are home to two-thirds of the world’s population and are responsible for 75 percent of world trade.
According to Modi, the world’s problems could be solved better if developing countries played a bigger role. He mentions the corona pandemic, climate change, terrorism and the war in Ukraine as such challenges
– The world is in crisis. The global south has not created the challenges at hand. But they affect us the most, Modi said.
India hopes that, among other things, food security could be promoted at the meeting. Reaching an agreement would require Russia to agree to release Ukrainian grain to the international market. There is no hope for this.
India also wants to give a voice to Russia and China
India has a reputation for being able to work with countries that don’t get along with each other. India has maintained relations with both the United States and Russia.
Until now, the G20 summits have always been able to agree on a final statement, but this time it is uncertain as Russia’s war of aggression divides the group.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the Delhi meeting, nor will Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Both send representatives instead.
– India has a real tightrope dance in front of it when it tries to lead the meeting in a situation where Russia’s war of aggression has created dividing lines between different country groups, said the director of the Asia program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Milan Vaishnav news agency for AP.
It is known that Prime Minister Modi wants the voice of Russia and China to be heard in the decisions of the meeting.
Not all G20 countries condemn a war of aggression
Many of the G20 countries clearly condemn Russia, but for some countries the war seems far away.
Local conflicts and extreme weather phenomena seem like more pressing issues to many, says the director of the Delhi-based Council for Strategic and Defense Research Happymon Jacob news agency Reuters.
– There is a feeling that conflicts in other parts of the world – be it Afghanistan, Myanmar or African countries – are not taken as seriously, says Jacob.
The research team of The Economist Group media company estimated in March that the number of countries actively condemning Russia has decreased – from 131 to 122. The group of countries supporting Russia had grown from 29 to 35 at that time. South Africa, Burkina Faso and Mali were among them.
If there is no declaration, the whole significance of the G20 may be called into question.
For example, China has wanted to strengthen the Brics group of developing economies, which was recently joined by six new countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia. All six have a close relationship with China.