‘Bharat’ becomes top trend in China as curious netizens fail to resist G20 buzz

As ‘Bharat vs. India’ controversy setthe cat among the pigeons on Indian social media, neighbours in China are discussing the topic with the same fervour on their side.

In yet another instance of Chinese netizens paying close attention to developments in India, it was noted that PM Modi’s nameplate at the G20 Summit reading ‘Bharat’ instead of ‘India’ received much attention on the Chinese social media website Baidu.

The hashtag saying ‘The name of the country on the table sign in front of Modi is Bharat’ was the top trend on Chinese social media on Saturday (Sept 9).

Watch:India has spent over Rs 4,100 crore on Delhi for G20 Summit

The topic garnered over 2.5 million impressions, while another hashtag ‘2023IndiaG20Summit’ was viewed over 21 million times on China’s X-like platform Weibo.

G20 reporting by Chinese media

China’s state-backed mainstream media also shed light on the Bharat controversy, highlighting that the move was part of the Indian government’s de-colonisation drive.

“Various Indian governments have tried for decades to erase vestiges of the British colonial era by renaming roads and even entire cities, a process that has been stepped up by Modi’s government, which has emphasised in public speeches that India needs to shed traces of ‘colonial thinking’,” The Beijing News reported.

Earlier, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece Global Times noted that India had other important jobs to do. “The Indian people have the freedom to call their country whatever they want. However, a name is not the most important thing," it said in one of its reports on G20.

The Chinese mouthpiece also advised that New Delhi use the G20 presidency to demonstrate its determination to reform its economy, expand its openness, attract foreign investment, and provide a fair business environment for foreign investors. "These are all more important than whether to change the country's name," it added.

China concedes India’s growing stature

The mouthpiece, however, also noted India’s rising stature on the world stage. "Undoubtedly, India has gained growing world attention. No matter what message India wants to send to the outside world through its G20 presidency, it will gain more weight and more people will pay attention to what India wants to say," it wrote.

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