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As of today, Monday, September 18, India officially changes its name to Bharat. In the same way that the Netherlands is already the Netherlands, India has now become Bharat (Barat) after a special parliamentary session. The name change comes on the first day of work after Prime Minister Modi turns 73.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government was already using the name during its hosting of the G20 summit to start calling the world to the country's (not so) new name.

The sign in front of Narendra Modi at the G20 summit reads "Bharat", not "India"

It's not new, at least according to locals. Bharat is the word in Hindi, unlike India, a name imposed by the English when they conquered these lands. A measure announced in August, together with another series of laws proposed by the Indian Government with the aim of replacing the judiciary of the British colonial period and in particular the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the 1872 Act.

Moreover, the constitution of the country, which is the longest among all independent nations in the world, has already recognized Bharat as the official name of the state. India's colonial history continues to be a sensitive issue for many Indians, most notably nationalists, who demand that Britain recognize and apologize for its excesses.

India is changing its name.

The British invaded and subjugated the country for about 200 years, until under Gandhi's leadership they gained independence in 1947. Bharat/India is following in the footsteps of other countries such as Turkey, which has asked the international community to change its toponymy to "Türkiye" instead of Turkey.

NATO already uses this name in all its official announcements about the country, writes "Because". Bharat/India is a federal republic consisting of 28 states and eight union territories with a system of parliamentary democracy. Its population exceeds 1.4 billion inhabitants and its economy is the largest in the world, exporting almost 20% of its production.

India

Bharat