Pakistan wants to claim the rights to the name 'India' should country change its name

Pakistan might change its name to India, if India changes its name.

It has been rumoured that India might change its name to Bharat, leaving the name up for grabs.

A state-issued invitation to the G20 summit this weekend, hosted by India, referred to the country in a different way, inviting world leaders to a state dinner hosted by the “president of Bharat”.

Meanwhile, prime minister, Narendra Modi, 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.

And the broadcaster News18 said unnamed government sources had told it that members of his Hindu nationalist ruling party, Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), who have previously campaigned against using the name India, which was imposed during the British conquest, would put forward a special resolution to give precedence to the name Bharat in the next session of parliament - so watch this space.

Now, nationalists in Pakistan have reportedly claimed they’ve got dibs on the name because it’s tied to the Indus region, so they might lay a claim on the name, India if it is derecognised at the UN.

But given the Indian government has not made any official statement on changing the name of the country, they might have to stick with Pakistan for a while yet.