Jimmy Carter’s legacy endures in Indian village renamed in late US president’s honour

In a quiet village tucked in the shadow of India’s capital, the late US president Jimmy Carter’s name is etched for posterity.

Carterpuri, or the “village of Carter” was abruptly renamed from Daulatpur Nasirabad after an hour-long visit by the Nobel laureate in 1978.

The renaming was suggested by India’s then-prime minister Morarji Desai who accompanied Carter on the visit to the small hamlet, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from New Delhi.

“When the proposal was mooted, all the village elders immediately said yes,” recalled 71-year-old resident Attar Singh, who vividly remembers the January afternoon from nearly half a century ago.

One of the last surviving members from the generation old enough to remember the occasion, Singh said he was “distressed” by Carter’s death last month, and played a key role in staging a small tribute ceremony.